Working Life
by gracie5412
Summary: Hermione and Oliver constantly ignore their feeling for one another, and this is fine until they keep and being thrown together, will they be able to get on with their lifes or will it jut complicate matters? COMPLETE
1. And So They Meet

**Working Life**

**Summary:** Ever since Hermione left Hogwarts she and Oliver Wood have been ignoring their feelings for each other. They both have carers now, love would just get in the way right? So why does it seem that they keep on being thrown together? HGOW. T (PG-13).

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Disclaimer for whole story: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters, places etc from the Harry Potter Series.

**A/N – **all furtherauthor's note shall beat the bottom of page throughout this fan fic.

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**Chapter 1 – And So They Meet**

Hermione Granger was sat outside a small café in Diagon Alley, at a metal table with a red and white checked tablecloth. The vase of pink daisies sat in the middle of the petit table was casting a dark shadow onto the paper that she was reading through.

A waitress walked over and deposited the cold drink on to the table, the ice clinking against the glass as she set it down. Hermione's attention was diverted from her work briefly as she thanked the woman and took a miniature sip of the refreshing liquid, before once again turning to the task in hand.

Just moments later she leaned back against the hard backed chair and brought her hands to her forehead, sighing. She looked around her to see many people going about the village, shopping, talking, and selling goods. Many people were just out enjoying one of the first very sunny, hot days England had been blessed with in the month of April. March had been overcast and gloomy so the late spring weather was welcomed by all. The paper that Hermione was reading and supposedly editing was getting to be very tedious and she wanted to be doing anything but at that time.

"No Hermione, this is you're job, if you don't do it now you'll just have to do it later when you have more to do." She scolded herself and forced her eyes back onto the parchment. It was the next chapter of the new book she was writing. All she had to do was read through it and make sure it was what she wanted it to read like, before sending it off to her editor.

Being a highly acclaimed new and fresh author was hard work sometimes, especially when it came to having to edit her own work. But, she reminded herself, it had to be done and she had known it would be like this before starting on the second book.

In her seventh year she had carried a notepad around with her constantly and whenever an idea had sprung into mind she would quickly jot it down before it was able to disappear again. So when it had come to the end of her exams she had a whole plot and many characters already invented, all she needed to do was fill in the gaps.

Now, a year and a half on Hermione found herself very well off from her book sales and very well known by most people. The very good thing was she had discipline, so she found it quite easy to manage her own time effectively and had already got set into a routine of writing for her second book. It was Friday so she worked all afternoon until four that was when she would go and meet Ginny from the Ministry.

In the nine months Ginny had been out of Hogwarts she had been working as a receptionist for the Department of Education. Her brothers teased that she would turn into a female Percy, but unlike her older brother Ginny despised with a passion the man she worked for and definitely did not envision herself being there for life. This was a job so she could get some money to travel the world like she had always dreamed.

Looking at the clock stood in the middle of the small square the café sat in Hermione saw that it was a quarter to four. She finished her drink and left the correct amount of money on the table before writing in the last few corrections needed on the papers and collecting them together to put into her bag. With a small 'pop' she apperated to the entrance hall of the Ministry building where she sat by he fountain to wait for her friend.

Twenty minutes later Hermione was starting to get irritated and restless. It wasn't like Ginny to be late; she was like her mother, completely neurotic when it came to being on time. An owl swooped down next to her just as Hermione was going to get up and inquire as to Ginny whereabouts. She stooped down and carefully undid the letter attached to the small owl, petting it before it flew off. She unfolded the small piece of parchment; it had jagged edges so Hermione guessed it had been ripped from a larger piece.

_Hermione, So sorry if you have been waiting long. I tried to get away but the bastard of a boss I have has decided that Friday afternoon is the 'perfect' time for me to start arranging all his filing! I've tried to explain that I finish at four on a Friday but he's having none of it. I'm so sorry but it looks like I'll be here for the long haul. _

_You go and have some fun and I'll see you at the Burrow tomorrow night._

_Ginny_

Hermione balled the note in her hand and sighed. What was she going to do now? It was ritual that she and Ginny would meet and go looking round Hogsmade in all the shops buying things they really didn't need each week. They would then have dinner together usually in the Three Broomsticks, or sometimes back at Ginny's if she had been shopping, before hitting the clubs in muggle London. Now suddenly Hermione was without her shopping buddy.

She stood for a moment before thinking, to hell with it, and setting off for Hogsmade anyway. Just because she was on her own didn't mean she couldn't have fun. She'd find a great buy, a new top, and be able to show it off at the Burrow the next day. Every Saturday night since they had left Hogwarts Hermione, Harry, Ron and now Ginny all came back to the Burrow for dinner. Sometimes they were blessed with the company of Fred and George and sometimes even Charlie, Bill or very occasionally Percy. Hermione loved it, being an only child meals with her parents were always quiet and polite. At the Weasleys' you could let your hair down and have a great time.

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A half hour later Hermione was in her favourite clothing store trying on a top that had caught her eye. It was striped alternately dark pink then light pink with a V-neck that showed a little cleavage. It had no sleeve so was perfect for this type of weather and Hermione had a great pair of dark jeans that would go really well with it. Once she had it on her and was looking in the mirror Hermione knew she couldn't leave the store without it.

On her way to the checkout another three things caught her eye and, after also trying them on, she decided that she couldn't live without them either. This happened in the next few shops she went into and two hours later Hermione collapsed into a chair outside the Three Broomsticks with countless bags at her feet.

She ordered her meal and sat back down waiting for it to come. Rooting in her bag she found the book that she had been captivated with the night before, found her place in it and started to read. It was called 'Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts' it was full of funny tricks that matched even the genius of the Weasleys in some cases.

A startled wail and a thud brought her back into reality and looking round she saw that there was a person face down on the floor.

"Oh my goodness are you ok?" She asked rushing to their side and helping them up.

"I've been better thanks." A heavily Scottish accented voice replied. Once stood up again the person turned to face Hermione saying "You should be careful where you leave your bags Miss don't want to injure anyone now do you?"

Once looking at the face of the person she realised whom it was. "Oliver? Oliver Wood?" She exclaimed quite loudly.

"Ssshhhhhh! Shush woman! I don't want a heap of screaming fans after me." He laughed. "Hermione! Nice to see you again, it's been quite a while."

"Yes is has." Hermione said, blushing as she remembered what had happened last time they had met.

It had been the start of her seventh year, Oliver had left Hogwarts three years previously, but this year he was back. Having sustained an injury from playing professional Quidditch, Wood had been advised to take a year off playing competitively. He had, instead, taken the job of being the Quidditch teacher at his old school.

On meeting Hermione again he had been deeply attracted to her and was glad when he found she had felt the same. All through the year they had met up in secret whenever they got the chance. No one knew that they had been together; teacher-student relationships were completely prohibited in Hogwarts. Not only would Oliver have been fired they was the great chance Hermione could have been expelled.

When the year ended they broke things off mutually. Oliver went back to playing Quidditch for his team The Montrose Magpies and Hermione to peruse her carer. There had been no real heart brake or drama when it happened, they had simply said it was fun while it lasted but lets not make it complicated and had both been happy with it.

Hermione had no more time to dwell on the past as Oliver pulled her into a hug and sat down at her table. A few moments later Hermione's food was brought over to the table and Oliver smiled at the waitress.

"Well that looks delicious I'll have the same please."

The female scurried off and minutes later returned with a plate of food. Hermione was slightly annoyed to note that now the girl was dealing with a good looking male she was eager to serve him and was much quicker about it.

"So Mione tell me just what have you been up to?" Oliver asked with a broad grin as he shovelled food into his mouth.

"I've been working on my second book." Hermione answered proudly.

"Wow not even nineteen and already on your second! I loved the first by the way couldn't put it down. It was great." Oliver praised. "But then I always knew you'd be great."

Hermione blushed at the flattery and asked "So what about you? Your team won the British and Irish league again didn't you? That's, what the thirty-second time now?"

"Thirty-third." Oliver corrected. "It's been great, lots of training, first weekend off I've had in months. Or so it seems." He laughed a throaty laugh that made Hermione smile.

"What about your love life? You must have all the guys after you." Oliver enquired, making Hermione blush even more.

"Sadly no. My love life is practically none existent, much to the disappointment of my mother, Ginny and Mrs Weasly who are all itching for me to find someone and settle down."

"And you? You're not _itching_?" He smiled.

"Oh no! I mean I don't mind a boyfriend as long as I keep it light, you know? I just don't need a relationship right now. I mean I'm going to be nineteen in a month I'm not ready to settle down. I want to have fun!"

"Damn straight you should girl! Flaunt it while you still can, you can be old and boring when you're, well, old and boring." Oliver said nodding enthusiastically.

Hermione smiled; glad to find someone who shared her viewpoint. Most people thought it strange.

"What about you then?" She asked, "Not wanting to marry a devoted fan who knows more about you than you do?" She laughed remembering an article she had read where a crazed girl had stalked Oliver for a month, totally in love with him.

"Oh God no! Me married? That'll be the day!" He laughed again. "So what are your plans for the night? Going to have fun are you, paint the town red and so on?"

"Well me and Ginny usually go in to muggle London and go to a club, but she had to work late so we probably won't go now."

"We probably won't go? Why do you say we? _She _probably won't go. You're not attached at the hip you go on your own pick up a hottie for the night!" Oliver smiled.

"Go on my own?" Hermione asked pretending to be scandalized "A young girl like me out all alone on a Friday night? What ever would they say?" She laughed.

"Well being the chivalrous gentleman that I am, don't laugh at that, I shall escort you to where ever it is madam would like to go." He said with an exaggerated bow and putting on a corny very posh English accent. This sent Hermione into more laughter.

--

After finishing up their meals and spending more time catching up the apperated back to Hermione's apartment. They hung out watching T.V and drinking a few beers before Oliver apperated to his place to get ready, leaving Hermione to get changed before they met up outside of the Leaky Cauldron and hour later ready to go to the clubs.

Oliver broke into a grin as he saw what Hermione was wearing. She looked stunning, or so he thought, in a black skirt that was about three inches above her knees and ended in a ruffled hem that swayed as she walked she was wearing a deep red halter neck top that had embroidered flowers down on side in black. Her black heels elongated her legs and her curls were hanging loosely around her shoulders.

She stopped before him and smiled.

"Well madam shall we go?" He asked putting on the accent again and offering her his arm.

"Yes I do believe we shall." Hermione replied in the same fake British voice while slipping her arm into his and beginning to walk with him into London town.

**Author's Notes -** Hi guys! So new story, Yay! It's a used plot I know, but it's a story I've been thinking of for a while and finally have written it down. So, let me know what you think and so on and I'll try to get the next chapter to you sometime soon.

Much love, Grace.


	2. Goodbye Again

**Chapter 2 – Goodbye Again

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The club was already thumping out music that could be heard from the bottom of the street, but luckily as it was still quite early on and a queue had yet to form so Hermione and Oliver slipped inside quickly.

Once inside Oliver grabbed Hermione's hand and led her through the mass of bodies to a table that had a couple just getting up. As soon as their backsides were off the chairs Oliver ran for it and sat quickly before anyone else could steal the prime spot.

"That was a good spot of table stealing." Hermione praised as she joined them.

"I didn't steal it they were leaving." Oliver retorted.

"Yes but they had been waiting for longer than us." Hermione pointed over to another couple that were looking at them with annoyance while they shuffled off to find another seat.

"So milady I shall be so kind as to get the first round, what'll it be?" Oliver asked as he got up from the table.

"I'll have whatever you're having." She shouted to him over the music.

A little while later Oliver returned with two cool beers and sat down in the chair next to Hermione. He went on to tell her all about his time in the Magpies while they drank their beverages. The time passed quickly as their conversation turned from work to how Oliver was coping with all the attention he was getting from his fans.

Hermione was laughing at a story he was telling her about an obsessed fan who had collected ever picture possible of Oliver and pasted them to her bedroom wall until the whole room was covered with his face. Then the fan sent picture of the room to Oliver in a hope to impress him with her devotion.

"Oh you poor thing!" Hermione deadpanned. "It must be horrible to be loved by so many people, to be so adored and wanted. However do you cope?"

"I know it's just terrible." He smiled. "Now come and dance with me my feet are itching to show off their moves."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her into the mass of bodies out on the dance floor. They danced happily through three songs, each time drawing a little closer, before getting another drink.

This was the pattern they stuck to through the night dance then drinks then dance again then have another drink. So it wasn't long before the drunken wave of loosing all inhibitions washed over them. Their dancing became more wild and loose although they did stumble a little more. Their bodies were closer together and they were putting their arms round each other without being self-conscious.

The next round, they decided, was to be vodka shots. By the time that alcohol had added to the rest that was currently washing round their system a slow song had been put on and everyone was swaying to the music. Hermione grabbed Oliver, proclaiming in a very loud voice how she loved this song, and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. Oliver responded by placing his hands at her waist.

They looked into each other's eyes and slowly, very slowly; Oliver brought his head down to Hermione's and their lips met.

Hermione's mind was cast back to the first kiss they had shared together. It had been the first class Oliver had taught them; he had said that Hermione was disrupting the lesson and gave her a detention. She had gone to his office that evening to serve her wrongly given detention, ready to give him a piece of her mind. Knocking upon is door she started to speak as he opened it, telling him how unfair he was being but he simply grabbed her hand and pulled her inside. Once the door had shut with a soft click he took her in his arms and kissed her.

Ever since then they had spent every spare moment together. It had been a thrill for them, trying not to get caught and having a secret that just the two of them could share. Hermione remember the rush she would get when they sneaked off together and sometimes getting so very close to being seen. For once Hermione Granger wasn't the boring little goody two shoes everyone expected her to be, she was daring and fun.

"How about we go back to my place?" Hermione whispered seductively into Oliver's ear. He nodded slowly and led her out of the club.

When they got outside they slipped down a dark, deserted alley and apperated back to Hermione's flat.

Once there clothes were quickly discarded and their kisses became faster and more urgent. Hands travelled over the other's body as they both reacquainted themselves with the person they once knew.

The next morning Hermione awoke with a groan. Looking over at the clock she saw it read eleven thirty. There was a sharp throbbing in her head and parts of the night before eluded her memory. Unfortunately there was one part that she remembered and he was lay snoring next to her. She slowly sat up. Trying not to move her head at all if possible, and staggered into the bathroom where she threw up into the sink.

After clearing up her mess and scrubbing at her teeth with lots toothpaste Hermione went into her kitchen to get a large drink of water and as many painkillers as she could take in one go without it being harmful. She swallowed the two tablets and collapsed onto her sofa where she lay in silence until Oliver walking into the room disturbed her.

"Morning." He muttered wearily.

Hermione grunted a response and pointed out the painkillers to him also. He gladly popped two from the packet and downed them.

"Want anything to eat?" Hermione asked after a long pause.

"I don't think my stomach would be able to handle it." Oliver replied.

"Yeh me either." Hermione sighed and rolled away from the window that sunlight was now pouring through causing her to squint and making her headache worse.

She, instead, looked at Oliver and tried to figure out how she was going to tell him. He was still a dear friend to her and when it had ended last time it had not been on a bad note, but more of a mutual agreement. Hermione remembered it well.

It had been the last week of term and Hermione was sat on Oliver's desk swinging her legs over the edge. It had been a topic playing on her mind for quite a while but she hadn't wanted to bring it up. But finally she opened her mouth and spoke.

"Oliver, in a week I shall have left school and you shall be returning to The Magpies to play. I guess it's time we end this. It would be silly to try to keep it going. You will be travelling all over the world and I want to try and get my book published."

"You're right." Oliver sighed, "As usual, of course. I do not want it to end badly though, I mean if we see each other on the street I still want us to be able to talk without feeling uncomfortable."

"Yes I would like that too." Hermione said with a smile.

"Now get over here and kiss me, we still have a week to enjoy ourselves."

The next week they had parted with a hug and a smile, no bitter feelings and very little hurt.

But now a year later would Hermione just be able to bring up the subject again and would Oliver be just as happy to be dumped?

"Oliver?" She asked cautiously.

"Yes Hermione?" He turned to face her and saw the expression playing on her face "Ah I see, well don't feel too bad because I agree with you."

"You do?" Hermione asked with a smile.

"Yes I do, the Magpies are starting a new season I'm going to be training every day. And you, you have your second book to be writing and all the interviews and publicity events of the first."

"Neither of us needs a relationship right now; it would be unfair on the other."

"See you and I think so much alike." Oliver said with a grin and pulled her into a hug. "So I better leave I guess. Well Hermione Granger it was great seeing you again, you are even more beautiful than I remembered. I hope I see you again soon, if our schedule allows it, of course."

With that he gave her one last kiss and disapperated with a 'pop' leaving Hermione stood in the middle of her flat all alone. She sighed and walked over to her desk and pulled out her laptop. She turned it on and pulled up the file that contained her second book, after flexing out her fingers she set to typing. That was a good thing about being muggle born, she thought, you still had modern technology.

The first book she had written had been entirely by hand and had taken her such a long time to do, as every time she changed her mind she would have to cross a lot of it out, but with this one she could simply delete it with a push of a button.

Her first book had been a huge best seller and reached the number one in the selling list in just a week from when it was released. It had been a fictionalised version of what had gone on in their first year at Hogwarts. Her second book would be about the second year and so on until she covered all seven years.

Of course for the books she needed Harry and Ron's help for the parts when she was not there to experience it first hand. Such as in their second year what had happened in the chamber of secrets as she had been in the hospital wing, petrified.

She grabbed the pages of notes she had and quickly read through them before continuing with the next chapter.

Once the words had started flowing out of her she lost all awareness of the goings on around her. Once the chapter was complete she looked up to see that three hours had passed. It was now three thirty and she was expected at The Burrow at four thirty for dinner.

She saved her document and backed it up on a floppy disk before shutting down the laptop and stepping into the shower. She quickly lathered shampoo into her hair before washing it out then followed with conditioner. Grabbing a towel she wrapped it around her body and sat at her dresser. She sat at her dresser and combed through her hair before reaching for her wand. She muttered a spell that dried her hair and turned towards her wardrobe.

She pulled out a brown skirt that went to three inches above her knee and a hot pink v-neck sleeveless t-shirt. She looked at the clock and saw it was already quarter past four. She quickly did her make-up and apperated to The Burrow.

She knocked upon the door and was greeted with a hug.

"Hermione my dear please do come in!" Mrs Weasly said warmly as she let Hermione out of her arms.

"Hello Mrs Weasly." Hermione smiled.

"Oh please do call me Molly dear." She instructed as she moved to let Hermione past.

Hermione went into the living room where Harry, Ron and Ginny were sat.

"Hermione!" Ginny smiled as she saw her friend walk in "I'm so sorry about leaving you alone yesterday, we'll go clubbing next Friday for sure I'll pay to make up for us not going this week."

"Oh but I did go." Hermione said with a smile.

"What? Alone?" Ginny asked looking shocked.

"No of course not, that would have been a terrible bore! No, I bumped into Oliver in the Three Broomsticks and he came with me."

"Oliver? Oliver Wood?" Ginny squealed. As Hermione's best friends Ginny, Harry and Ron had been told of Hermione's relationship with Oliver. But only once it had ended so there was no way Hermione could have gotten in trouble.

"Well did you have a good time?" Ginny asked with a sly smile.

"He seemed happy enough when he left this morning." Hermione laughed as Ginny took in the news with a delighted scream.

"Well we really don't need to hear this." Ron grumbled as he and Harry walked out into the back garden.

"Finally you have a boyfriend! Mum will be pleased." Ginny said hugging her friend.

"Oh no, I'm not going to date him now!" Hermione corrected her friend.

"What? Why not?" Ginny asked, scandalized.

"I've told you I'm not in a place in my life where I want a relationship. Why is that so very hard for you to take in?"

"So what you're just giving up on men?" Ginny asked, bewildered.

"No! I'm just not going to get into a relationship with any of them, but that doesn't mean I can't have some fun!" Hermione said with a laugh.

"So you're just scared of commitment then?" Ginny accused.

"No I just want to concentrate on my work for now and I can't do that if I am tied down by a man. This was I can up and leave to promote my book where ever I want."

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**A/N – **Thanks for the positive feedback you guys gave me!

Thank you to the people who reviewed you guys rock! –

RandomSmirf13  
fuzzypuff  
non'ya  
FlairVerona – oops! Thanks for pointing that one out, my brain wasn't functioning when I wrote it so I guess I got a little mixed up.


	3. And Now To France

**Chapter 3 – And Now to France **

Hermione was sat in her flat curled up on the sofa with a soft deep blue blanket around her legs. Her laptop was rested on the arm of the sofa with the screensaver running across it. She had been working well, on a roll, until and owl had swooped in through the window and deposited a letter in Hermione's lap.

Hermione opened it up and read through it. It was from her publisher. A promotion tour had been set up and Hermione was to go to France for two weeks to do interviews about her first book. She smiled, put the letter down and shut down her laptop. Grabbing a piece of paper she quickly wrote a letter to each Ginny, Harry and Ron. She then wrote a letter back to her publisher to let her know she would be happy to go to France.

Hearing a pop she looked up to see Ginny.

"Can I come with you?" She asked eagerly.

"What about your job?" Hermione reminded her.

"Screw my job! I don't care, the worst that can happen is that they'll fire me and its ok I've got two very rich friends I'm sure either you or Harry would be able to put me up for a while."

"Ok you can come with me. It will be good to have a familiar face there with me."

Ginny broke into a grin and squealed happily jumping up and down on the spot. She ran over to Hermione and pulled her into a hug. Hermione laughed at her friend's happiness and remembered how excited she had been the first time she had gone abroad.

"We'll have to go shopping of course. Get some nice summery clothes to wear and a swim suit so we can sunbathe! Let's go into London tomorrow and we can have a shopping spree."

"But tomorrow is Monday I have to work." Ginny said downcast.

"Well quit, like you said I'm rich enough. I think it's time I moved out of this tiny little place and brought a proper house. I can afford to keep a few friends with me of course. Then you can find a job you will enjoy and not have to worry about not being able to pay the rent."

"Oh Hermione are you sure?" Ginny asked looking shocked.

"Of course I am! I want a big house with a big garden where I can sit a write and a swimming pool would be nice. Now I have money I can have it all. I think a house with a huge library and office would be nice. Then when I get asked to do interviews I won't be embarrassed to do them in my own home."

"Hermione you are the best friend I could have ever asked for!" Ginny said with a huge grin hugging her friend again.

--

The next morning Hermione waited outside the Ministry while Ginny marched upstairs and told her boss to 'stick her job where the sun doesn't shine'. She came running down the stairs laughing and grabbed Hermione's arm pulling her outside.

"Come on let's go and shop our troubles away!" Ginny proclaimed "And you can tell me all about what happened with you and Oliver."

Three hours later Ginny and Hermione collapsed onto one of the sofas in Starbucks, bags littering the floor at their feet. Hermione went over to the counter and purchased two coffees while Ginny looked at all the things she had bought.

They spent the next hour gossiping about all the people they knew, Hermione told Ginny all that had happened between her and Oliver and Ginny told Hermione all about her suspicions that Harry had found himself a girl.

"I just don't know what to do Mione, I mean I know he doesn't feel the same way about me, but that doesn't make the slightest bit of difference. I don't want to love him but I really can't help it."

"Oh Ginny," Hermione said with a sigh "It must be so terrible for you. Do you know who this girl is?"

"No but Ron's been hinting that Harry's been coming in at very late hours or sometimes not until the next morning. Ron said to me last night that there may be a new addition to their house at this rate."

"How could Ron be so blunt with you when he knows how you feel?" Hermione said with annoyance and handed Ginny a tissue to wipe her teary eyes.

"I'm sorry." Ginny sniffed "We were having such a nice time and I've gone and ruined it."

"No don't be silly you haven't and you can't help the way you feel now can you? Harry's an idiot not to want you. Now how about we go to Diagon Alley to housing agency and see if we can find a house with a big library and swimming pool to live in."

Ginny smiled through her sadness and helped her friend collect up their shopping bags.

--

Three days later Hermione and Ginny were packed and ready to go, they picked up their cases and picked up the portkey in the other. A moment later they felt a tug at their navel and felt their feet leave the ground.

When they landed the sun was shining and it was a lot hotter. They were stood outside a large villa.

"Merlin, it's beautiful!" Ginny exclaimed with a gasp as Hermione ran up to the door and walked inside. The room the walked into was very large with black and white tiles on the floor. There were two pillars on either side of the room with a step down into the sitting room that had the same floor.

Hermione dropped her bag by the door and walked over to the first sofa. It was pure white with deep purple cushions. A wooden table was set in front of it and two armchairs matching the sofa were on either side. A mirror lined one of the walls and a bookcase the other. Opposite the table were four large French windows leading out onto the garden.

To one side of the room was a hall way leading to a large dinning room and the kitchen. The other hall led to three bedrooms all with en suite bathrooms.

"Well I say we unpack now then hit the pool." Ginny said with a grin "I'll be dammed if I get back to England without a kick ass tan."

Hermione laughed and grabbed her case and walked into her room. They both unpacked their two weeks worth of clothes and slipped into their bikinis and raced out to their own private pool. Hermione dived straight in to the refreshing water while Ginny took to one of the sun chairs.

"Just think I should be at work right now!" She exclaimed happily.

"And I should be writing right now" Hermione laughed as she climbed into a rubber ring so she could float around.

"When is your first interview?" Ginny asked.

"Tomorrow afternoon. Then I have two the day after then a break for three days."

"What about the next week?"

"I have one on Wednesday then two Thursday, one on Saturday and then one on Wednesday. Then we go home Wednesday night."

"So what are we going to do on the days you have off?" Ginny asked.

"Well I do believe shopping is in order of course and a few beauty salons. Sightseeing would be good as you've never been before."

"I think that sounds great!" Ginny smiled.

--

Three days later Hermione was enjoying her first day off by taking Ginny to the Wizarding town in France. It was full of beautiful clothes shops and many book shops. It was a little like Hogsmade on a bigger scale.

As Ginny and Hermione were looking at clothes they over heard a man talking to his wife urgently.

"Come on! It starts in half an hour I want to get to our seats I don't want to miss the Magpies!" he said while his wife looked through the racks of clothes.

Ginny looked to Hermione excitedly. "Do you gear that Oliver's in France! Let's go and see him!"

"No Ginny!" Hermione snapped.

"Why? You're still friends right? Can't friends go and see friends play Quidditch?" Ginny said with a sly smile.

"Fine, but we probably won't get tickets any way." Hermione gave in with a sigh.

Hermione couldn't have been more wrong; due to her celebrity status they were given seats in the top box, where they could be seen by all the players.

--

Four hours later the snitch was caught by the Magpies and Hermione and Ginny cheered as Oliver and his team did a lap of victory around the pitch. It was then that Oliver saw the two girls. He smiled and waved to them as he flew past.

"He saw us!" Ginny exclaimed "I think we should go down to the changing rooms and congratulate him!"

"OK." Hermione agreed.

When the players had returned to their changing rooms and the crowds had dispersed Hermione and Ginny made their way to the Magpies room. There was a guard outside the door who stopped them as they walked up.

"Can I help you ladies?" he asked

"Yes we're here to see Oliver Wood please. We're friends of his." Ginny said confidently.

"And you are?" He prompted.

"We're Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger." She replied. "We went to school with Oliver; if you tell him we're here then he'd be happy to see us I'm sure of it."

"Sure of it now are you?" Came a new voice, "And what if I don't want to see you?"

Oliver stepped out of the changing room doorway past the guard.

"It's ok Colin they're safe, tell the guys that I'll see them in training tomorrow I've got my own celebration party to go to."

--

"So whatever are you girls doing in France? Not stalking me I hope." Oliver said with a grin as he set down his pint.

"We're so glad this stardom hasn't gone to your head." Hermione said sarcastically, patting Oliver's arm. "Actually I'm here promoting my book and Ginny came along to keep me company."

The three spoke for a little while longer until Hermione was struck with inspiration and rushed back to the villa to write the next chapter of her book leaving Ginny and Oliver alone.

"So you and Hermione, fancy that! A whole year and none of us guessed until she told us in the summer. You dark horse you!" Ginny said with a smile.

Oliver blushed slightly before speaking "Well it wouldn't have been smart for people to know, it would have gotten out eventually and I would have lost my job and Hermione could have been expelled. It wouldn't have been pretty."

"And what about now?" Ginny inquired, "You've met up again had some fun, of so I hear, are you going to start something now?"

"No I think not." Oliver replied "We're both at stages in our life where work is more important and relationships are put on the back burner. It wouldn't work out with us both being so busy and travelling."

"If you ask me I think that little speech has been rehearsed." Ginny said with a sly smile.

"Think what you like but it's the truth. I know you're dying to see Hermione paired off and married with kids sometime soon but I really don't think that's what she wants right now. What you need to do is respect your friend's wishes and not try to take over." Oliver downed the last of his pint and got up. "Now I really must dash all this _work _I have to do, I really never stop." He placed down a few coins to pay for his drinks gave Ginny a quick hug was walked out the door.

"It's so very sad when people can't see what they really want." Ginny said to herself with a sigh.

* * *

**A/N – **So lucky you guys! I was really bored today so here's another chapter.

Thanks for your reviews!

Fuzzypuff  
RandomSmirf13  
FlairVerona


	4. Say Cheese

**Chapter 4 – Say Cheese**

Two months later Hermione had finally finished her book. On returning from France she had gone back to the estate agents and had found a house she had fallen in love with. It was huge. Four floors, ten bedrooms, seven bathrooms, four sitting rooms, three dinning rooms, an astronomy tower, a library that went up to the next floor, two studies, a beautiful rose garden, a swimming pool and a grass area the size of a Quidditch pitch. The vantage point of having a house that size was that partied could quite easily be thrown there, such as Hermione's nineteenth the month before.

Hermione was quite aware she would never need all the space but she didn't care. She loved the thrill of being able to splurge on such a grand level and not really have to worry about where the money would come from. The millions in her Gringotts vault were still their and the sales of the second book would be added to that shortly.

In just two weeks her book was due to be released, the there would be a frenzy of activity as she did many interviews, book signings and the like. Before, probably about a month later it would all calm down and she could take some time off before starting on her third book.

The weeks leading up to the release, although nervous, were quite boring. She didn't have the energy to start a new book but she wanted something to do. Ginny, after getting tired of Hermione moping around had said that she was going to set her up on a blind date.

Hermione, not having the brain power to argue had given in, just this once.

--

At first Ginny had been planning on setting Hermione up with the first nice lad she could think of and hope for the best, but she couldn't envision that one working very well. So instead she thought it through logically. So instead she sent out many letters to just the one person that she prayed would capture Hermione's heart. So instead she called in Oliver Wood.

At first he had been against the idea, it wasn't fair on either of them to be thrown together so many times, and would be even more so if Hermione didn't even have a say in it. But Ginny was persistent in the matter; not giving up until he finally gave in a few days after she first contacted him.

--

The next Friday night Hermione spent the evening getting ready, she didn't know exactly where they were going but Ginny said it was already all paid for and that she should be fancy.

Hermione chose she long white skirt that billowed out from the knees with a red material belt tied around the waist, a red halter top and heels in the same colour. She tamed her curls into bouncy ringlets and placed silver hoops through her ears.

At seven thirty Ginny knocked on her door and walked in.

"Hermione you look stunning!" She gasped as she set eyes on her friend. "Now come on your transport is here."

Hermione got up and followed Ginny down the stairs to the entrance hall. The front door was open and on the long gravelled drive she saw a stretched limo driving towards her. As it pulled to a stop the driver got out and opened the door for Hermione to get in.

"Have fun!" Ginny said as she hugged her friend. "I'll wait up and kill you if you get back at a reasonable hour!"

Hermione laughed and walked down the three stone steps that led up to the house and climbed into the back of the black shiny limo. As the door was shut she look inside and realised she was not alone. Opposite her sat none other than Oliver Wood.

"Hello there," He said with a smile, "I'm your blind date surprise!"

"The thing with blind dates is they're meant to be with people you know nothing about and will never have to see again so you don't feel half as bad when the date goes horribly." Hermione said with a groan.

"Well it bound to if you have that attitude." Oliver laughed and grabbed the bottle of champagne that was sat in an ice bucket. He poured the chilled liquid into a glass and handed it to her before pouring himself one also.

"So your new book is hitting the shops next week, are you excited?"

"Yes very," Hermione nodded "as well as gut wrenchingly nervous."

"What have you got to be nervous about?" Oliver said disbelievingly.

"The book being a complete failure, everyone hating it, getting dropped by my publishing company, every laughing at me, loosing my income having to sell my beautiful new house and going back to having very little money." Hermione said blankly.

"Well if you put it like that you should kill yourself right now." Oliver said taking a huge gulp of his drink.

Hermione smiled weakly "So where is it we're going? Ginny wouldn't tell me, which was horrible as I had no idea what to wear."

"Well you look gorgeous anyway so it doesn't really matter where we go. But I do believe she has made reservations for us at a place called the Chambers, it's new and very hard to get into apparently, but not for celebrities like ourselves I should imagine." He says with a smile. Hermione looked at him as he smiled and notice the way his eyes crinkled ever so slightly in the corner when he did so.

The limo soon pulled to a stop and the door was opened for them once more by the driver. Oliver held out him hand as Hermione climbed out of the car and aided her. He didn't let go, she noticed, until they were sat at their table.

For the next two and a half hours the couple ate, drank and didn't stop talking the whole time. When they looked at the clock upon leaving they were shocked to see that it was already ten.

"So where are we going next?" Hermione asked as the limo whisked them off to somewhere new.

"We are going to a little place called Ruby's for some drinks."

It was a small club lit entirely by candles with small tables that seat two. Hermione went to get them some seats while Oliver got the drinks.

Four drinks later the conversation was still raging, although the topics had become a little more open. Hermione was telling Oliver all about her second book and Oliver had been sharing all the gossip about his team with her.

They were so wrapped up in the funny stories that they were being told they didn't notice the flash of the bulb as a camera was being used.

It was quarter to one when Oliver and Hermione, tipsily staggered into Hermione's house. They silently, well almost silently, made it into Hermione's room on the first floor.

--

The next morning Hermione woke with a yawn and stretched out, her feet came into contact with bare flesh and she jumped. Looking over she saw that Oliver was sleeping peacefully beside her. She looked at the clock and saw it read ten o'clock. She groaned and shook him shoulder until her was awake.

"Oliver it's Saturday and you're going to miss training." She said as he stirred.

He instantly sat up and looked around.

"What time is it?" He asked her.

"Ten. You have half an hour 'til it starts, you told me last night." Hermione replied.

"Oh shit!" He said as he got out of bed. "Hermione I'm really sorry to have to do this to you but I can't miss practise."

"I know, don't worry about it. Work is important to us we know how we both feel about it." Hermione said with a smile, honestly meaning what she was saying.

--

Ginny was making her way down to the kitchen to get some breakfast when she bumped into Oliver in the hall.

"Good night I see?" she said to him with a smile.

"It was an excellent night thank you so much for arranging it all." Oliver replied as he started walking down the stairs and to the door.

"You're leaving?"

"Yes I have practise."

"But you're with Hermione." Ginny said dumbly.

"That's why I'm leaving so I can get there."

"And Hermione's ok with this?"

"Yes. She's the one that woke me up to get me to go."

"You two are the strangest couple I have ever seen, you'd rather work than be together." Ginny said shaking her head.

"That's why we're not a couple." Oliver called back to her as he walked out the door and shut it behind him.

"Yet." Ginny muttered. "You're not a couple _yet_."

--

The next morning Hermione was walking around Hogsmade with an odd feeling. Where ever she went she felt people were looking at her, not that that was unusual, she was a celebrity and most people did look at her. But this felt different to her but she couldn't put her finger on it.

She looked down and checked that she wasn't missing any clothing or anything like that for the millionth time that day. But there was nothing wrong, that she could tell.

Finally when the annoyance got to much, while she was sat in a café drinking a cup of coffee and trying to get some work done, she got up and marched over to a couple of witches sat nearby who kept on glancing over.

"I'm sorry," She said as pleasantly as she could manage "but could you please tell me just why you keep on looking over to me?"

"Well we were just wondering about you and young Oliver Wood." One said to her.

"I'm sorry but what has he got to do with anything?" Hermione said irritably.

"Well from that article in Witches Weekly you two looked very close." The other said to her with a grin.

Hermione turned and walked from the coffee shop ignoring the call of "So can you get his autograph for me love?"

She marched straight into the newsagents and purchased a copy of Witch Weekly and on the cover there was a picture of her and Oliver sat in the small club looking very close. She turned to the page it told her had an article about it and began to read.

_It looks like one of Britain's most popular bachelors is no longer eligible for the taking. It seems that Oliver Wood the keeper of the Montrose Magpies and Hermione Granger million selling author have been spending a lot of time together recently. Reports say that they have been seen together quite a lot recently. First in a muggle club a few weeks earlier (see picture bottom left) and it has been said that Hermione had travelled to France with Oliver where he was recently playing a game of Quidditch. _

_Friday night the couple were seen together in a small club called Ruby's where they seemed very close and to be getting on fine. Later that night they were seen entering Hermione's new house in Wizarding London. Oliver was seen leaving the house early the next morning. _

_Will this happy new couple last? Only time will tell, keep reading for all the news regarding Hermione and Oliver's relationship. _

At the bottom of the page there were various photographs of Hermione and Oliver with small captions underneath.

Hermione closed the magazine in fury and stomped out of the news agents. She was fuming as she walked back to her house.

"Have you seen it?" She demanded as she walked into the kitchen where Ginny was sat, "Have you bloody well seen what they've done now?"

"Seen what?" Ginny asked looking bewildered and slightly scared.

"This bloody magazine, it's the bane of my life I tell you!" Hermione said throwing it down onto the table.

The room was silent for a short while, while Ginny read the article.

"Well what are you going to do?" Ginny asked.

"Not much I can do really, if I kick up a fuss they'll just say I'm covering it up."

"Has Oliver seen it?" Ginny asked "You should see what he thinks."

**A/N – **Shout outs to –

FlairVerona – I hadn't really thought much of the comedy aspect when writing this fic as most of it is already written by now, I may go over it and see if I can put a little more in though, not promising anything but I'll see what I can do.

BrennaM,

Fuzzypuff

D-daygirl


	5. Injuries Happen

**Chapter 5 – Injuries Happen

* * *

**

Oliver had seen the article, but he wasn't as angry as Hermione had been. Having been in the public eye for five years it wasn't the first time his life had been splashed over the pages of the magazines. Especially the time he had had a stalker who hadn't left him alone for a good six months. The press had hounded him for a long time afterwards. But now the girl had been slapped with a restraining order so he didn't have to worry about that one any more. He knew that these stories eventually get boring and people loose interest. The best you can do is sit it out and wait, which was exactly what he intended to do.

Although he may have been used to it he was still bothered by the fact that people were reading about what was going on in his life. It was an odd feeling knowing that people he had never even met knew about his personal life. But, he reminded himself; he had been warned about this when he took the job.

He had wanted to owl Hermione to see how she was taking all of it, he remembered back to the first time he had been in a gossip magazine he had felt completely violated. But, he realised this wasn't the first time Hermione had been written about there was that horrible woman Rita Skeeter.

He had still felt he should have written to her, he really did, but he didn't have the time. This sounded like a lame excuse even to him but it was true. He was twenty three now meaning he probably had about seven years at the most before he was replaced by a younger more able person. He would be classed as old. He would be asked to retire as keeper and he would have nothing to do.

So he had started training even more stay fit and keeping healthy, doing anything he could to keep on top of his game. Stay the best. But to do this he cut so many other things out of his life. His social life, family and friends, he poured all that he could into Quidditch.

* * *

Hermione however was still overly pissed off with the reporter so that afternoon she marched into the Witches Weekly main office and demanded to talk to the person who had written the article. The receptionist smiled at her falsely and instructed her to wait on one of the chairs while she went to see if the reporter was in.

Luckily for Hermione she was. After being directed to where the office was Hermione quickly walked down the hall to find this person and give them a piece of her mind.

"Ah Miss Granger how lovely to see you!" The reporter, Helen Crystal, greeted as Hermione walked in.

"I wish I could say the same." Hermione snapped in reply.

"Now what ever can I do for you?" Helen asked with annoying levels of happiness in her voice.

"You can write a retraction to the bloody article you wrote about me and Oliver!" Hermione yelled, slamming the palm of her hand on the desk.

"But you and Mr Wood were out on a date were you not?" Helen asked

"Well yes but that's not the point we're not a couple." Hermione replied through gritted teeth.

"Oh so you've broken up! Can I get a statement from you? This will make a great story!" She grabbed her quill and looked at Hermione expectantly.

"NO! OLIVER AND I HAVE NOT BLOODY BROKEN UP BECAUSE WE WEREN'T DATING IN THE FIRST PLACE." Hermione screeched the last of her patience lost.

"But you went on a date so technically you were dating." Helen pointed out.

"Look do you remember Rita Skeeter?" Hermione asked leaning forward across the desk threateningly, Helen nodded mutely, "Well I'm the reason she doesn't work anymore so if you don't want to go the same way I suggest that you don't so much as think of a new story about Oliver and I and make sure all your colleagues do the same. Do I make myself clear?"

After another nod from Helen, Hermione stormed from the office feeling very pleased with herself.

* * *

Oliver was out on the Quidditch pitch, as usual, alone. He had charmed Quaffles to shoot themselves at the goal. Each one he saved. No matter how fast it was going, no matter what direction, he would get there first and send it back out onto the pitch.

As he carried on he began to tire but he didn't stop. He knew he should, if he went on for too long he could strain himself. But he pushed these thought to the back of his mind, the more he practised the better he would get.

As he got worn out his motions slowed and he couldn't think so clearly, he didn't see a second Quaffle shooting towards him and he knocked back another. It clipped his shoulder and drew his attention so that he missed the next. As he went to try to grab it a third whizzed towards him and smacked him straight in the centre of his chest.

Having both hands off the broom his balance was off and the Quaffle took him by surprise. After a moment off blind panic and a futile attempt of making a grab at the broom Oliver found himself slipping backwards.

The air whizzed past his body. He scrabbled blindly at the nothingness hoping that he would find something to stop him falling. The ground came closer and closer. His panic grew. A cried of help came from him lips as he made contact with the ground.

A thud sounded as his body slammed against the hard dried out floor. A crack of bones echoed around the empty pitch.

His body wasn't found until early the next morning by one of his team mates, who had come in for an early training session. As soon as they saw Oliver's crumpled form by the goal posts they called for help.

St Mungo's workers were on the scene quickly and they levitated him away on a stretcher. He was rushed to the hospital as a head trauma as he was now in a coma. He was examined and although he had yet to wake up his levels were stable.

The story released to the press was that he had fallen from his broom and suffered a blow to the head; he also had a comminuted fracture to the leg. He would remain in hospital until his was awake and then he would take time off until the shattered bone in his leg was fully healed.

* * *

Hermione was sat at home with her laptop rested on her lap. She was on a roll with the beginning of her third book. She had said to herself that she wouldn't start the book until the second one had been released and she had taken a little break from work. But inspiration had hit and she had to get started before she lost the line of thought.

That was where she was sat when Ginny came racing in.

"Have you heard? It's so terrible!" Ginny said, panting slightly as though she had been running for a while.

"Heard what? What's wrong?" Hermione asked moving the laptop and getting up.

"Oliver. He's in a coma, fell off his broom last night and hit his head, shattered the bone in his leg."

"Oh that's terrible!" Hermione said with her hand to her mouth.

"I think we should go and visit, to see if he's ok." Ginny said.

"We can't go now, they'll only let family in." Hermione reminded her.

"Oliver fell out with his family, they hate him now, don't you remember it was in the papers a few years ago."

"Well you should believe everything you read Ginny." Hermione reminded her hotly.

"But what if he's there all alone and wakes up? How would you feel if you knew no one was there?" Ginny said trying to appeal to Hermione's emotions.

"I'm working we'll go tomorrow."

"Fine." Ginny tutted and walked away.

* * *

The next afternoon Ginny dragged Hermione to St Mungo's straight to the information desk.

"Hi there we're here to see Oliver Wood." She said to the woman sat behind the table, with a smile.

"It's family or close relations only I'm afraid." Came the snooty reply.

"Well he's dating Hermione so she's close relation." Ginny answered quickly and thumped Hermione when she started to protest.

"Very well then." The woman sighed. "Fifth floor room 212."

Ginny gave one last grin before heading to the lift Hermione being dragged in toe.

"We are not dating!" Hermione wailed as soon as the lift doors closed.

"Yeh I know that but that snob didn't, look it got us in so that's all that matters. Oh look we're here." Ginny brightly said as the lift opened with a ping.

They walked slowly along the hall looking at the numbers on the doors until they came to the door marked 212. Hermione pushed it open and they stepped inside. To their surprise Oliver was sat up with his eyes open.

"Visitors! Finally! I am so bored you would not believe it." He said with a smile.

"I thought you were in a coma." Ginny said in an accusing voice.

"I am so very sorry," Oliver deadpanned, "there's a pole over there you could make it happen if you really wanted."

Hermione laughed and pulled a chair over to the bed where Oliver was lay. "So how are you feeling?"

"Like I fell fifty feet and my left leg has a comminuted fracture, whatever that is." Oliver joked.

"Good at least you're not hallucinating." Hermione shot back with a small smile. "And a comminuted fracture is where the bone is shattered."

"Is there anything you don't know?" Oliver asked admiringly.

"I'll tell you if I come across anything." She joked, "So when did you wake up?"

"This morning. The team came this afternoon and brought a load of chocolate which them then went on to eat for themselves."

The two girls spent the rest of the afternoon with Oliver before Hermione had to leave to get ready for an interview she had that evening. Her book was being released the next day so she made no promise of returning in the near future.

* * *

"So what's the plan for you now?" Ginny asked as she looked around Oliver's small hospital room.

"I don't know I'm usually travelling with the team this time of the year so I've rented my flat out, it's not like I can just tell them to bugger off though is it? I guess I'll just stay at the Leaky Cauldron until my leg heels." Oliver replied.

"How long will that take?"

"Up to twelve weeks with it in a cast then a further four weeks to make sure it's mended before I can even think about mounting a broomstick." Oliver sighed and leaned back against his pillows. This was his worst nightmare.

"How come you can just take a potion like everyone else?"

"I've done that too many times, it's weakening my bones by doing so, so the hospital staff say I will benefit from taking the time off for my bones to heal naturally. And the coach agrees, he says I should take some time out and do some things besides Quidditch." He pulled a face of disbelief and sighed.

"Well he could be right. I mean you don't really do much else, now do you?" Ginny accused.

Oliver gave a mock gasp of pain before laughing. "Hey! I went out with you guys didn't I?" he pointed out.

"And all you did was talk about Quidditch!" She sighed. "Well I have to go now."

She got up and walked to the door. "See you soon Oliver, I'll try and get Hermione to come down and see you when I visit next, if her schedule permits it."

Oliver lay back on the stiff sheets, the material crinkling under his body. He stared at the off-white walls blankly, not taking in anything.

He hated this, Quidditch was his life. And it really was, when most people said that they were just being overly dramatic but Oliver really couldn't think of anything he wanted to do other than Quidditch.

* * *

The next morning Hermione had no work lined up and, as it was the day her book was coming out, she was slightly nervous. She decided it would be good to take her mind off things by going to the hospital to see Oliver again. Ginny happily came along, saying that hopefully Oliver's team-mates may be there as apparently some were very nice to look at.

When they got there, much to Ginny's disappointment, Oliver was sat in the room alone. They quickly made themselves at home and started a conversation with him.

"So when are getting out of here?" Hermione asked him.

"Tomorrow I think, if I'm lucky." Oliver said looking very happy at the prospect.

"Yeh and tell her where lucky you get to be staying." Ginny commanded, sounding very much like her mother.

"Oh I'm going to check into the Leaky Cauldron." Oliver answered happily.

"I mean how can you expect him to live like that? With an injured leg and all! It's stupid!" Ginny shrilled.

"Well haven't you got friends that you could stay with?" Hermione asked.

"Nope not really, I don't have much time for friends." Oliver shrugged.

"Stay with us!" Ginny blurted out excitedly.

"What?" Oliver and Hermione said at the same time.

"Stay with us! I mean it's not trouble is it Hermione? We have the room and we're both around most of the time to help you." Ginny grinned across at Hermione.

Hermione smiled back, a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. She couldn't really say no now, if would sound mean and like she had a problem with Oliver staying there. But it was her house; it should be here offering the room not Ginny, a friend who was currently staying with her.

"Sure," She said with false brightness "It'll be fun!"

* * *

**A/N – **A big virtual hug goes to everyone that reviewed –

Fuzzypuff  
FlairVerona  
D-daygirl


	6. Living Arrangements

**Chapter 6 – Living Arrangements

* * *

**

That afternoon Hermione had to dash off for a series of interviews at a few book stores, and then she had a book signing that evening. She left the hospital feeling stressed. It wasn't the fact that Oliver was going to be living with her, that she was happy about, 'the more the merrier' as the saying goes. It was more the fact that the press would be very interested and she would have to put up with more whispers and rumours than before.

But she pushed that out of her mind, she had work to do, important work. She got to the floo network in the hospital and stepped into a free fireplace and travelled to where her first interview was being held.

She was quickly whisked into a dressing room where she sat as people applied makeup to her and did her hair while other people decided what it was she should be wearing for the interview.

Forty minutes later she was being ushered into a studio where she was photographed in 'natural' poses, such as flipping through her new book while lounging on a sofa, sipping some exotic type of drink and sat with a quill and parchment looking very thoughtful.

She was then taken to a small room and met her interviewer when the questions started. It went very well and Hermione was happy with her answers until they got to the last question, which threw her a little.

"There have been lots of rumours about you and currently injured Quidditch star keeper Oliver Wood, what exactly is going on?" The interviewer asked leaning forward slightly in anticipation to the answer.

"Oliver and I are old friends from school we've bumped into each other a few times in recent times and have gone out to catch up. He's a close friend but we're not in a relationship."

"What about the rumour that you went with him to France?" The interviewer shot at her, hoping to catch her off guard.

"I was promoting my last book, doing some interviews and the like. My friend went with me and on a day off we found out that the Magpies were playing so we went along to watch. Oliver met us afterwards and we went out for a few drinks." Hermione said simply with a shrug.

"Well thank you Miss Granger I think that's it." The woman said as she got up and shook Hermione's hand.

That evening Hermione came home later feeling very frazzled. She kicked off her shoes at the door and walked along the hall to the kitchen. She took off the shirt and pulled a t-shirt out of the basket of ironing that needed doing; she put it on and took her hair out of the ponytail it had been in all day.

Going over to the freezer she pulled out a tub of ice cream, she grabbed a spoon out of the drying rack by the sink and started to eat the ice cream while flipping through the day's newspaper.

After reading the articles that caught her eye she put the ice cream tub back into the freezer and walking into the living room. It was the one that she and Ginny used the most as it was the biggest of the living rooms. It had a huge TV with a DVD player, various games consoles and lots of books. Hermione had spent many nights trying to teach Ginny how to play the muggle games and was finally getting somewhere, or so she hoped. Harry and Ron loved this room when they came to visit and spent hours battling it out on wrestling, football and racing games.

Hermione launched herself onto the sofa and turned on the DVD player. The opening title of Colditz rolled onto the screen and she settled back to watch one of her all time favourite films.

She suddenly had an odd feeling that she wasn't alone and looked up to see a figure sat in the armchair at the back of the room by a large floor to ceiling bookcase. The person was in darkness so she couldn't make out their features.

Slowly, silently, with a shaky hand she reached for the main light switch and clicked on the light. With bated breath she took in the person and sighed with relief.

"Oliver!" She shrieked.

He jolted awake and the book fell from his hand. He looked around him to find out where the noise had come from. His eyes fell upon Hermione and he quickly stood up.

"Hermione, hi, I'm sorry." He said quickly.

"What are you doing here? You're not meant to be discharged until tomorrow at least."

"I sweet talked the doctor into letting me out early. As long as I get a lot of rest then I'll be fine." He said with a grin. "It's just that Ginny isn't here, she gave me a key before. But when I arrived she was out so I didn't want to be nosy so I came in here."

"Oh I see." Hermione said, feeling slightly taken aback. "I guess I could give you a tour. Or how about I just give you the basics as you can't walk very well." She gestured to his crutches.

He slowly got up wobbling slightly as he grabbed the two metal poles that he used for supports. He followed Hermione as she walked from the room, pausing every now and then so he could catch up.

She quickly showed him the kitchen and dinning room and various other rooms on the ground floor before they got to the last room; the room that would be his. She opened the door for him and he hobbled inside.

"You can decorate it however you want seeing as how you'll be here for a while. The bathroom's through there, sometimes it takes the shower a little while to heat up in the mornings so watch out if you don't want it too cold." Hermione said before turning to leave. "I'll leave you to it then, I've got a lot of work to do."

"Hermione wait." Oliver called after her. "Look are you ok with this? Truthfully? Because if you're not I don't have to be here."

"And have you cooped up in some tiny room in the Leaky Cauldron? No chance you're stuck with us mate." Hermione said with a weak smile before walking away.

The next morning Hermione had already gone to an interview by the time Oliver got up. He turned on the TV and got out his wand. Pointing it at the screen he said a spell word and the channel changed. It was a new invention come up by a muggle born witch a few years before. Wizard TV, there was now three wizard channels that could only be accessed using magic. One channel for news and interviews and the like, one channel for sports and one for music. He sat lazily and watched the Quidditch before, at eleven turning to watch Hermione's interview.

It was drawing to a close and Oliver was just about to change back to the Quidditch when a question caught his attention.

"What about you and Oliver Wood you've been getting close recently." The man asked with raised eyebrows.

"Oliver Wood and I are friends but that had nothing to do with my work so I will ask you not to question me on it." Hermione said firmly but with a smile.

Ginny came racing in that evening with a huge grin plastered on her face.

"I got a job!" she squealed as she jumped up and down on the spot.

"Great! What is it?" Hermione asked feeling happy for her.

"I'm going to work with Fred and George!" Ginny exclaimed. "It'll be great! I'll see more of the family and get discounts on all the products."

"Wow Gin! Congratulations!" Hermione praised and hugged her friend.

A week later most of Hermione's interviews had dwindled out and she was spending more and more time at the house. Which suited her as it was getting to be very sunny so she could take her laptop and sit out by the pool. Getting a tan while she worked, she marvelled, how cool could life get? She had received news that most shops had already sold out of her book and more were on order, which was good as this meant that a lot of money would currently be pouring into her account.

She gave a happy little sigh and turned back to her work, what she had right now was great she couldn't be happier with her life.

Oliver on the other hand was having quite a bad time of late. He spent most of his day sat in his room bored, he wanted to go out and ride around Hermione's garden on his broom. But his coach had confiscated it on interests to his health.

He hated the feeling of being completely useless. Usually he would be training or going over tactics for the next game but he was under very clear instructions: no Quidditch.

But he was so bored! He had nothing to do, no where to go, no one to see. Ginny was at work and Hermione had told him if he interrupted her she would rip out his eyeballs. He thought it best to leave her alone.

He would have gone for a dip in the pool and done some lengths except for the fact he wasn't allowed to submerge his cast in water whenever possible.

Ginny loved her job; her brothers were great and so much fun to work with. She got to see all the news things they invented before everyone else did and she even was allowed to take some stuff home with her.

She had only been there a week so the novelty had yet to ware off but she was sure even after a long time working there she would find it as much fun. Plus the fact that now she was getting a regular pay check she and Hermione could restart their shopping trips!

She was sat at the counter flipping through a magazine when the bell squawked and a customer walked in. she looked up to see that it was Harry and her stomach did the ever familiar leap as he smiled at her.

"Hi Harry how are you?" She asked willing herself not to go red.

"As good as ever Gin. I haven't seen you in ages you and Hermione should come round soon we only ever see you at the Burrow now."

"Harry, Ron came round to see us yesterday. In fact he pops round quite a lot really. It's you who doesn't make the effort." Ginny joked, although there was truth in what she was saying.

Ever since Ron had started hinting that Harry had found someone new they had seen less and less of him. Ginny didn't want to believe her brother but there was no other explanation. He was growing more and more distant as his relationship was getting more and more serious. A relationship he had told no one, but Ron, about.

This made Ginny feel quite hurt, he was supposed to be one of her best friends yet he was keeping something of a large size from her.

"Actually Gin," Came Harry's voice, interrupting her thoughts. "Are you free on Friday night? I want you and Hermione round there's something important I want to tell you both."

"Erm sure Friday should be fine." She said before adding "As long as we can bring a tag along, it wouldn't be fair leaving Oliver all alone while we're out. Plus he'd love the company, with me being out and Hermione still fixed on the idea that she doesn't want a relationship, he's getting quite lonely."

"Sure why not?" Harry said with a grin causing Ginny stomach to do another somersault. "Anyway I've got to go, stuff to do."

He walked from the shop and as Ginny watched him go her stomach gave another lurch. But this time for a completely different reason. This time it wasn't happiness she was feeling, it was pain.

The pain of seeing Harry's face light up as he walked towards a woman. A woman who wrapped her arms around his neck as they kissed. A beautiful woman that Ginny had no chance at competing with.

And as Ginny watched them, in agony, she realised what it was that Harry might be telling them. It was easy to guess once she had seen them walk hand in hand into the estate agents across the street.

"Fred! George!" She shouted "I'm not feeling too good I'm going for a walk."

And with that she bolted from the shop walking quickly down the back alleys to a place where she could be alone.

A place where she collapsed against the wall and slid down until she was stilling with her knees against her chest. The hot tears coursing down her cheeks and dripping onto the material of her t-shirt causing it to look speckled.

It felt as though someone had their hand holding her heart, Ginny thought, and now they were squeezing it tighter and tighter. She couldn't go on Friday night, she decided, she wouldn't be able to bare it. To pretend to be happy with the fact that Harry has a girlfriend and that they were going to be living together was more than she could manage. All she really wanted to do was yell 'why her? What's so special about her? I love you I always have and probably always will so why not choose me? I understand you!' but even when her mind was screaming this she had always kept her mouth firmly shut. And now she was paying the price.

* * *

**A/N – **shout outs to –

Chris  
RandomSmirf13  
FlairVerona  
GrissomCainefan – thanks I had this pointed out to me a few reviews back but I forget to change it so I promise that next time I log in I will!


	7. Meet Melissa

**Chapter 7 – Meet Melissa

* * *

**

Friday night came around quickly and Ginny found herself sat in her room not being able to move. Hermione and Oliver were both happily getting ready to go out. Ginny had never told them about seeing Harry with the girl so they had no idea what the news was they were being told.

At six there was a knock upon Ginny's door and Hermione poked her head round.

"Hey whyaren't you ready?" she asked as she took in the fact Ginny was sat in the pyjamas.

"I can't go." She whispered.

"What? Why not?" Hermione asked, bewildered.

"I just can't." She sighed.

"Yes you can. Come on you get all dressed up and blow Harry's socks off. We'll go and it'll be fun, we'll find out this exciting news that Harry has to tell us. Don't you want to know what it is?"

"I think I can hazard a guess." She muttered as she was dragged off the bed. A wand was pointed at her and spells were said.

Ginny found herself in a pair of blue jeans with a silver halter top. Her hair and make up were done and a pair of black and silver heels was on her feet.

"Great! So you _are _ready!" Hermione said brightly. "So come on lets get going, you know how flustered Ron gets when we're late.

Ginny was dragged downstairs into the living room, where Oliver was waiting, and pushed into the fireplace. Hermione and Oliver squeezed in with her and after a clear command of 'Grimmauld Place' they were away.

A few seconds later they stepped out of a different fireplace. They were now in the hallway of Grimmauld Place where Harry and Ron had moved into when Hogwarts have finished. Hermione and Ginny had been offered rooms there too, but the girls had turned them down. Hermione because she wanted to be independent and have a place where she could write her book alone and Ginny because she wouldn't have been able to bare seeing Harry so often.

"Hello? Anybody in?" Hermione called out and Ron hurried into the hall.

"Hi guys!" He said with a grin, he pulled both of the girls into a hug and gave them a kiss on the cheek. He then turned to Oliver and shook his hand making pleasantries such as 'good to see you' and 'long time no see'

"Anyway come on through, Harry's cooked so I make no promise that you'll be well tomorrow morning." He joked as they walked into the kitchen.

--

Harry was stood in the kitchen over the cooker flicking his wand about. The potatoes were peeling in the sink and there was soup stirring itself on the hob.

"Hey guys!" He greeted them as they all sat around the small table in the room. "This is very nearly done so if you want to go and sit down I'll bring it through in a minute."

The four of them walked into the dinning room and looked at the set table; the table that had six plates and glasses on.

"Hang on a minute, six? There are only five of us." Oliver said with a frown.

"Oh no we have another person coming. She should be here soon." Ron said as he sat down.

"She?" Hermione asked with raised eyebrows.

"Oh yeh, well you'll find out soon enough. Harry can field that one." Ron said secretively.

--

A few moments later Harry walked in with a bowl of steaming soup and a ladle. All eyes were turned on him expectantly.

"What?" He asked with a chuckle.

They all looked to the spare place then back to Harry.

"Oh I see." He said with a nod and walked from the room. When he came back in he wasn't alone.

A girl was with him. She was tall and slender, wearing a pair of jeans and a black halter top, much like what Ginny was wearing.

_But she looks so much better than me _Ginny thought bitterly.

"Guys this is Melissa." Harry said as he slipped his arm around her waist. "We've been seeing each other for a while now."

"What! And you didn't tell us?" Hermione asked, shocked.

"Well, I don't know I we wanted to see if it would work out first. And well Melissa and I are moving in together!" He said as the two of them broke into a grin.

"Wow that's great!" Hermione said happily "Congratulations you guys!"

"So Melissa this is Hermione, one of my best friends we went to school together, this is Oliver who's staying with he for a while he was my Quidditch captain and this is Ginny, Ron's sister." Harry was saying and Ginny flinched as she shook Melissa's hand.

_Is that all I am to him? I'm just Ron's sister. _She thought sadly.

--

All through the meal Ginny said very little, she just sat and watched Harry and Melissa sadly. They seemed so happy together, so wrapped up in each other. Many times in the evening she was blinking back tears.

Hermione spent the whole evening glancing nervously at her friend. She could tell that Ginny was finding this hard. Worse than hard she could tell this was crushing her. She didn't know what she could do. Harry and Melissa were all over each other and not aware of how much pain Ginny was going through.

Oliver and Ron had started a conversation about Quidditch and Oliver was having a great time. Finally someone who he could carry on a good conversation with, he thought happily. The bad thing about living with Hermione and Ginny was they didn't really follow Quidditch to a great extent, so they didn't talk about it so much.

When they had all finished dessert they went through into the living room where Melissa went to make them all a coffee.

"So what do you guys think?" Harry asked excitedly.

"She seems nice," Hermione replied, "You two seem happy together."

All Ginny could manage was a smile and a nod.

"I'm going to go." She declared a few moments later "I have to go to work in the morning. I'll see you at the Burrow tomorrow night if you're there."

With that she got up and walked into the hall, and ignoring all protests from her friends, she left.

--

That night Ginny sat in the astronomy tower wrapped in a crochet blanket, eating her wait in ice cream. Tears ran down her cheeks, but she didn't bother to wipe them away.

She had heard Hermione and Oliver get in a few hours before and Hermione had come looking for her but Ginny had spelled the door shut and after banging on the door for a while Hermione had left her alone.

This was the worst night of Ginny's life. She was only eighteen years old she shouldn't have to deal with this heart break. She had loved Harry since she met him when she was ten years old. That's eight years she spent pining after him, comparing all other guys she met to him. And, of course, none of them ever came close.

She had tried so many times to get over him, but it proved impossible. She loved him and that was the end of it. When she had left school she had still seen a lot of him as she had visited Ron a lot and Harry had always gone to dinner at the Burrow on Saturday nights. She had thought they had gotten closer and her hope had risen that maybe they would eventually get together.

But now with Melissa on the scene it seemed that any hopes she had were now smashed.

--

"I'm really worried about Ginny." Hermione said to Oliver about a week later. "She just mopes about all day, have you seen how little she eats?"

"She needs to get over Harry." Oliver said simply.

"Well I think that's obvious." Hermione sighed "It's just how we do that."

"She needs closure." He suggested. "She needs to get all her feeling out in the open and tell him. That way he knows and she can move on."

"You know as well as I do that she'd never do that." She snapped and walked over to the sink where she started washing up.

Oliver rested his head in his hands and watched her as she scrubbed away at the dishes. She looked beautiful, or so he thought, with her hair tied back but a few strands escaping and her pink v-neck sweater rolled up at the sleeves. She wasn't even wearing makeup, he realised, and she looked gorgeous.

He shook his thought out of his head on concentrated on the conversation they were having.

"Well if you suggest it to her the worst that will happen is she'll say no. it's worth a shot, just to see if she will." He pointed out.

"I guess you're right." Hermione said.

"Of course I am." Oliver chuckled and ducked as she threw the tea towel at him with a grin.

That evening Ginny got in from work and went straight up to her room. She had done this every single time she had returned from work. Hermione would usually come up and try to talk to her but wouldn't stay long.

Just as she guessed it Hermione came up and knocked on the door.

"Ginny? Can I come in? I've got you a cup of tea." She called through the door. Ginny gave no answer but with a flick of her wand the door was unlocked and Hermione came in.

"You have to stop this. It's not doing you any good; you won't get over it this way." She said as she set the mug down on the dresser.

"I don't want to get over him though Hermione. I love him." She sniffed.

"Ginny you _think _you love him. Just talk to him, tell him how you feel, it might help you move on from this."

"I can't do that!" Ginny gasped, looking at Hermione wide eyed.

"Why can't you?" Hermione inquired. "What have you got to loose? Yeh it may be embarrassing straight after you do it but it'll be better in the long run."

"I don't know," Ginny sighed "Do you think I should?"

Ginny looked at Hermione expectantly as she considered her answer.

"I think it would be good if he knew. If it was out in the open it might help you move on from it. Get on with your life." Hermione said soothingly.

She walked over and gave Ginny a hug as a sob escaped her friend's mouth. Hermione sat for a long time and soothed her friend as she cried.

"Ok I'll do it." Ginny nodded eagerly. "Can you ask him round for me? Just ask him to come to dinner, him and Ron alone, not with Melissa. That way if I change my mind it won't look strange."

"Sure I'll do that right now. I'll ask him round for tomorrow." Hermione smiled reassuringly and started to walk from the room.

"Hermione?" Ginny called after her, Hermione turned around to face her friend. "Thank you."

Hermione smiled and nodded before walking away.

She quickly wrote a note to Harry and Ron asking them to join her, Ginny and Oliver for dinner the next night before going into the living room and collapsing down onto the sofa next to Oliver.

With a sigh she rested her head on his shoulder. She asked, "When was it that our lives got so very complicated?"

* * *

**A/N – **This was ready for last night but I went to see the Hives so by the time I got back it was about midnight and I was too wiped to update then so I'm sorry that you had to wait a day more than you could have.

Thank you to my reviewers –

angryteabag,  
FlairVerona,  
D-daygirl,  
Buffy,  
chris,  
RandomSmirf13,


	8. How We All Feel

**Chapter 8 – How We All Feel

* * *

**

Ginny was sat at the kitchen table sipping a butter beer nervously. Harry and Ron were expected any minute and her stomach felt like it was going to explode. She had been flipping between emotions since the night before. Sometimes she thought that it was a really good idea and that once Harry knew just how she felt she would be able to move on with her life. Other times she was horrified that she was even thinking of going through with it, how embarrassing it would be to sit there and pour her soul to him knowing that he didn't feel the same.

In that back of her mind she had the tiny glimmer of hope that when she told him her true feelings that he would take her in his arms and tell her that he loved her too. This, of course, wouldn't happen. It was her imagination running riot.

Hermione walked over and squeezed her shoulder, giving her a sympathetic smile.

"Are you ok sweetie?" She asked.

Ginny first nodded, then shook her head and then shrugged. "I really don't know."

"They should be here soon." Oliver said, limping into the room on his crutches.

And sure enough just seconds after he said it they heard Harry and Ron's voices in the hallway. Hermione rushed out to greet them and they followed her into the kitchen when she returned. There was the usual hugging, kissing and handshaking before they sat down and Hermione got them all a drink.

Dinner passed quickly and was less stressful for Hermione than the last one. Oliver was happily getting into another conversation with the two lads about the Magpies last game, which he had missed due to his injuries. Ginny, again, spent the meal saying very little, her nerves were shot and her hand would stop shaking.

As the meal ended the five of them got up from the table and Hermione suggested they should go into the living room. Ginny caught Harry's arm and pulled him aside.

"Ginny what's going on?" He asked, confused.

"I need to talk to you." She said taking a deep breath.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him outside onto the patio. He sat down on the iron bench and looked up at the stars as Ginny joined him.

"So what's this all about?" He asked after the unfortunate silence had gone on for a few minutes.

"Well, there's something I wanted to tell you, but I just don't know how to say it." Ginny muttered.

"Well go ahead, it can't be too bad can it?" He asked.

"Depends on how you take it really." She muttered. "Look I'm just going to say it ok? I don't want you to interrupt of say anything until I'm finished."

"OK." Harry said nodding.

"Harry, I love you." She said bluntly "I always have, always will. Ever since I first set eyes on you I've loved you. I know this is a bad time to tell you this, seeing as how you're moving in with Melissa. But I need this out, because it's killing me living like this. I want to be able to get over you but I really don't see that happening. But I do know that now you know all this I may be able to try to get on with my life. I wish I could say I'm happy that you have Melissa and that you two are getting on so well but I can't. I hate the fact that another woman is making you happy. I hate the fact that you see me as Ron's little sister. I hate the fact that I love you so much it hurts and that you can't even see it."

Ginny faltered and broke down in sobs, burying her face in her hands. She waited for Harry to say something, anything, but he never did. She looked up to see him looking completely shocked.

"I'm done now Harry, you can say something." Ginny said.

"I, I don't kn-know what to say." He stuttered.

"Well just say what you feel." Ginny prompted.

"I'm sorry Ginny, but I love Melissa. We're moving in together in a week and that's the end of it. I'm sorry to hear that I've caused you such pain but I can't help the way you feel. I hope that you can move on from this because I do know how you feel." Harry said to her gravely.

"I think it would be best if maybe we didn't see so much of each other for a while." Ginny whispered.

"I truly am sorry Ginny." Harry said standing up.

"I know. Thank you."

After a moment hesitation they hugged and walked back inside.

--

Oliver had been staying with Hermione for four weeks and the two of them had settled into a routine. Hermione would work Monday to Thursday and each evening they would sit together in the living room and watch a film. Then on Friday they would spend the day together. Sometimes Hermione would teach Oliver how to cook or knit and other times they would spend the day watching Quidditch, Oliver explaining the rules to Hermione. Other days they simply hung out and chatted for hours on end.

Although he missed Quidditch greatly and hated the daytime when Hermione was working he got so bored. But in the evenings when he was with Hermione he almost forgot all about the game.

It was a Thursday and nearing three thirty, which was when Hermione usually finished working for the day. He grabbed his crutches and limped into the living room. Going over to the shelving unit behind the TV he looked at the wide selection of DVDs that were there. He chose a few that he liked the look of and piled them on the floor before sitting back on the sofa and turning to the end of a game of Quidditch that was being played.

His team had won their last game, which he was happy about, but he was disappointed that he couldn't have been there on the pitch with them. He loved the feel of the wind whistling about him, the feel of his broomstick in his hands. When he was up in the air, high up off the ground he could disconnect himself from the world. He could kid himself that he was happy and that his life was complete. But he knew that was wrong, his life wasn't happy, it wasn't complete. He had buried himself in his work in the hope that it would fill in the gaps. It had worked, until recently when he had time off, now he realised how alone he really was.

Just as it was wrapping up after a five hour game Hermione came into the room.

"Hey you." She said with a tired smile.

Oliver took in how she looked, she was wearing cut off denim shorts that were fraying at the bottom and a dark red vest top. Her hair was tightly pulled back into a bun, pinned up with a pen. She looked as natural, he thought, not like the women he usually met who were all dressed up and wearing make up an inch thick. Yet the woman stood before him wearing sloppy clothes and making no effort looked a million times better than all the done up girls he was introduced to.

"Hi." He smiled back "So did you have a good day of writing?"

"Not too bad, I got a few pages done." Hermione answered as she dropped down in front of the TV. "Let's see what you lined up for us to watch."

She quickly flicked through the ones that Oliver had piled up on the floor. She took out a disk and put it into the player before going to sit next to him.

"So," she asked, "What did you do today?"

"Well, first I stared into space for a few hours, I made plans to break into the Magpies training ground but realised that I wouldn't be good at stealth with my leg in a cast so scraped all that" He joked "then I hobbled about for a bit before collapsing in a pathetic heap in here."

"Sounds like fun." Hermione joked.

The opening titles rolled onto the screen and the conversation stopped for a while as they watched the opening of the film. Hermione yawned and snuggled up to Oliver, keeping her eyes fixed on the screen.

--

Three films later the clock chimed eleven and Hermione got up to put the last disk of the evening into the player. This one was a comedy; they had made an agreement that no matter what they watched the last film would always be a comedy. That way they would go to sleep on a happy note.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" Hermione asked, "It's your turn to choose."

"Well I think we should go and play Quidditch but oh! That's right I'm not allowed, how silly of me to forget!" Oliver deadpanned.

"So what are we going to do?" Hermione asked with a laugh.

"How about we go and blow a load of money on things we don't need?" He suggested.

"Shopping!" Hermione squealed happily.

--

That's exactly what they did. After both having a lie in and Hermione cooking them breakfast they got dressed and went into Diagon Alley. Oliver first dragged her into the Quidditch shop and gazed at the brooms with awe for a good twenty minutes before Hermione was able to escape. They then went to see Ginny at Fred and George's shop where she tried to sell them various items that they didn't need. But, being good friends they bought some things anyway.

"Honeydukes!" Oliver demanded as they bid Ginny goodbye.

"Good plan I need chocolate." Hermione smiled.

They set off slowly toward the shop when the heard a call from behind them.

"Miss Granger! Oliver Wood!" a small child ran up to them "Can I have your autographs?"

"Of course you can." Hermione said with a smile and took the pen and pad that the child was holding out. "And what's your name?" she asked the small boy.

"William." He answered, blushing.

Hermione quickly scribbled down a note and signed her name before passing the pad to Oliver who did the same before handing the pad back to the boy with a smile.

--

After getting a huge bag of sweets each they made their way over to the shrieking shack and sat on the fence.

"Hermione I have to tell you something." Oliver said to her as they sat down.

"OK what's up?" She asked as she rooted around in her bag of sweets looking for a jelly worm that kept on wriggling about.

"It's kind of important." He said and placed his hands over hers to stop her from looking in the bag. She looked up and her eyes met his, she took in his slightly scared expression and put the bag at her feet.

"What is this about?"

"Well you told Ginny that she should tell Harry how she felt and she said that she feels slightly better than she did. So I figure that I should do the same." Oliver said slowly.

"Well?"

"Well the thing is the past four weeks have been great. I miss Quidditch, but it's not been as bad as I thought it would be. And that's because of you Hermione. When I spend time with you I almost forget all about Quidditch and its great!"

"Oliver what are you saying?" Hermione asked as he took her hands.

"I'm saying I want us to be together!"

"Oliver don't be ridiculous!" Hermione laughed.

"I'm not being ridiculous!" He said and moved to stand in front of her. "Think about it, haven't we had fun these last few weeks?"

"I don't want a relationship you know that." Hermione said with a frown.

"Oh come on! You don't mean that!" Oliver snorted.

"Yes I did! The only reason you're asking me is because you're bored. If you were still playing Quidditch you wouldn't give me a second thought. In when you start playing again you'll have no time for me." Hermione explained.

"Don't be stupid of course I wouldn't!" Oliver argued.

"Yes you would." Hermione said firmly. "I'm sorry Oliver but I don't want a relationship right now. I'm at a point in my life where I really need to focus on my work." With that she sprung up, grabbing her bags, and walked away. Leaving Oliver stood alone.

* * *

**A/N – **Because you're all so very kind to me and reviewed so nicly I churned this one out for you this evening before I went to a school meeting about our study visit to Germany. So enjoy!

Just in case I don't update again this week I'll tell you now, next week is my SATs so I should be revising an awful lot s it's unlikly that I'll update until the end of the week. But then again I do have Monday of next week off so I may write the next chapter then if I'm not busy.

A big fat virtual hug to my wonderful reviewers –

**Angryteabag** – I'm working on their denial of their feelings at the moment so they won't be getting together just yet, but they will be spending some more time with each other.  
**Fuzzypuff**,  
**Porcelain Prayer** – I just want to say I really love your story! Thanks for reviewing.  
**FlairVerona**


	9. Alone Together

**Chapter 9 – Alone Together

* * *

**

Two weeks after Hermione had stormed off leaving Oliver alone at the Shrieking Shack. She had tried her best to ignore and avoid him at all costs. Hers being a big house she found it quite easy. She spent most of her time in the astronomy tower as Oliver couldn't manage that many stairs with his crutches.

She buried herself further in her work and spent many late nights clacking away on her laptop. She no longer went down to the living room to watch films of a night, and was unsure if Oliver had also given up but didn't want to go down and check just in case he was there.

She was already sailing past her deadline and had written two chapters more than she was planning to in the time that had passed. At this rate it would be done months before she planned it to be finished. A letter from her publisher that morning told her that her second book had already sold over one million copies.

She dared not to check how much was now in her Gringotts vault as she didn't want the money to go to her head. The anticipation of waiting for her bank balance to come through at the start of the next month, until then she would just have to wait.

--

Ginny was slowly, very slowly, coming to terms with the fact that Harry and she would never be together. She was far from accepting it, but she was getting used to the fact that Harry was living with a girl. A girl who he was seeing, a girl who he was in a serious relationship with.

The grip that seemed to be around her heart eased off ever so slightly each day, and although it still hurt like hell there was the faint spark that it may possible get better. Some time in the very distance future. She had found that work seemed to help, now that she had a job that she actually enjoyed she found that getting up in the morning had a point to it. Fred and George were so much fun and managed to take her mind off her troubles for a few moments at a time.

The bell jingled as a customer walked in, waking Ginny from her day dream. It was a tall man that seemed vaguely familiar to her. Studying him as he browsed the store Ginny tried to figure out where she knew him from. Averting her eyes as he looked over to the counter, she quickly started arranging her hair and straightening her apron.

"Can I help you Sir?" she muttered quietly. He looked up and smiled.

"Erm, do you have any of those feinting fancies left? The box is empty." He asked her with a boyish grin.

"Yeh I think we have some in the back, hold on a moment." She said as she walked into the store room.

She quickly located four different flavoured boxes of the product and took them back into the front of the shop. The guy was casually leaning on the counter flicking through one of the store's catalogues.

He looked at the boxes and told Ginny which of the flavours he wanted.

"Don't I know you from somewhere?" He asked with a frown. "Hey wait! You're Weasley? It's Seamus, Seamus Finnagan!"

"Seamus! Hi how are you?" Ginny smiled.

"I'm doing well. It's my nephew's birthday in a few days so I thought I should get him something that would be of use at Hogwarts. How about you? Working I see."

Ginny nodded and smiled "Yep and happily too! What about you, a great job to get to?"

"I'm working behind the bar at the Leaky Cauldron. It's not the best but it pays the rent so can't complain. Anyway I better go lots to do."

Ginny rung up the items for him and placed them all in a bag before handing them over to him.

"Well here you go." She muttered.

"Hey, I've got tomorrow night off do you want to get a drink or something?" Seamus asked hopefully.

"I don't think that's such a great idea, I'm sorry but I'm going through major emotional issues at the moment, I'm not ready to get into anything right now. I'm sorry." She said with a sad apologetic smile.

"Oh ok, yeah I understand, it's no problem." He said as quickly exited the shop, blushing furiously.

As the door swung shut Ginny gave a slow sad sigh, leaned her elbows on the counter and rested her head in her hands.

--

Having a hard time working out his feelings Oliver had taken to sitting out in the gardens. What Hermione had said struck a nerve he wasn't so sure why. At first he believed it was because he was angry that she wouldn't take his feeling seriously. But, as he thought more about it, he realised that he was angry with himself. It was true what Hermione had said, if he was playing Quidditch he wouldn't want a relationship either. He was just bored, that was the problem.

This wasn't love that he was feeling; he thought to himself, this was lust. He couldn't deny that he was attracted to her, he had been ever since he saw her again when she was in her seventh year.

The only thing getting in the way of apologising to Hermione was his pride. He knew that he should, but he couldn't back down even though deep down he wanted to. As he sat alone in the living room each night he missed Hermione's company. He missed human contact. He used to spend the whole day alone now he spent the whole evening alone too.

--

Hermione was frantically searching for the notes she had made recently while talking to Harry and Ron when they had come over for dinner two nights previously. She was rooting about in her desk draws through all the other papers that she had stuffed in there when she couldn't be bothered to sort them properly. Sitting back upright she pushed the hairs off her face and back into the clip that was holding back her curls.

Suddenly her memory clicked and she remembered just where she had left them. When Oliver, Harry and Ron had gone outside to discuss Quidditch, Hermione had picked up a book in the living room and started to read. When the three had returned she had used the notes as a bookmark and placed the book on the coffee table.

Looking over at the clock that hung on the wall she saw that it was nearing seven, that would mean that unless Oliver had given up on going he would be in the living room watching films. A small groan escaped her lips as she pushed herself to her feet and started down the hall.

Once on the first floor she tiptoed along the hall and stopped outside the living room, she held her breath and waited to see if any noise came from the room. When no sound came after a few minutes she let out her breath and opened the door.

Grabbing the candle from the end table close to the door she made her way to the back of the room. She quickly located the book she had amused herself with and pulled the papers she needed out of it.

She made her way back to the door and a sudden movement behind her made her jump. She spun around and shot a spell in the direction that she had heard the noise coming from. Unfortunately all that was there was a large mirror, she spell that she had used bounced off of the mirror and flew over her head.

Spinning around Hermione was just in time to see the spell hit the door. Running over to it she tried to yank it open but it wouldn't budge.

"Shit!" she muttered as she pulled on the door handle even harder.

Getting frustrated she slammed against the door with the palms of her hand. Suddenly the light came on and she saw that she was not alone in the room.

"Hermione what are you doing?" Oliver asked with a frown.

"Oliver? What the hell?" Hermione shrieked shocked at his presence.

"I was asleep." He explained pointing to the chair below the mirror. "What are you doing to the door?"

"I'm trying to bloody open it." She replied through gritted teeth. "You made a noise and made me jump so I used the body binding spell. It bounced off the mirror and hit the door, which will now not bleeding open!"

Hermione stepped back from the door in defeat while Oliver watched her with an amused expression on his face. She looked flustered and her hair was falling out if it's clip. Her makeup had smudged leaving faded black marks underneath her eyes as though she was very tired.

"Looks like we're stuck until it wears off then aren't we?" Oliver said with a chuckle. "Ironic, you've spent the past two weeks avoiding me only to end up locking yourself in a room with me."

Even as he said it he couldn't help but laugh.

"Shut up." Hermione muttered, even though she too was showing hints of smiling.

She flopped down onto the sofa, grabbed the blanket that was hung over the back of it and snuggled up under it. Oliver sat at the end of the sofa near her feet and pointed his wand at the TV screen. It flickered on and the pair watched in silence for a while.

Every so often they would steal a glance at one another, when the other wasn't looking. But sometimes their eyes would meet and they would blush profoundly before quickly averting their gaze.

As the silence grew more and more uncomfortable Oliver knew he had to speak up. So with a deep breath he swallowed his pride. "Hermione I'm sorry about what I said when we were in Hogsmade together. It was wrong of me and you were right, the only reason I want a relationship is because I'm not playing Quidditch right now. Plus it really wouldn't be fair on you if I'm not around so much. Please don't be awkward with me now; can we pretend it never happened?"

He looked across at her hopefully and watched as her eyes met his. With a relieved smile she nodded vigorously.

"So how about we watch a film?" She suggested "I've got a lot of catching up to do."

"That sounds great." Oliver said with a grin.

--

The next morning Hermione awoke in a room that was not her own. It disoriented her for a moment before she realised that she was still in the living room with her head upon Oliver's shoulder. She quietly pushed herself up off him and went over to the doorway. Closing her eyes she placed her hand on the handle, repeating _please open, please open _like a mantra. Pushing the door she found it opened with ease.

Letting out a squeak of delight she raced into the hallway before going back into the room to wake Oliver.

"Well," Oliver sighed, as he sat at the kitchen table eating breakfast with Hermione a little while later "That was an interesting evening."

"It'll teach you not to lurk about in dark places." Hermione said disapprovingly.

"I wasn't lurking! Sleeping can be in no way classed as lurking."

"You were so lurking! No lights on, making me jump _and _accidentally locking us in for the night."

"I was not lurking!" Oliver protested before laughing at the look Hermione was giving him "I think we may have to ask Ginny to settle this one when she gets home from work."

Both their eyes suddenly fell to Hermione's arm where Oliver's hand was resting quite comfortably. Slowly he moved it up onto her shoulder before reaching round to the back of her neck. She brought her hand up to meet his and their fingers entwined.

"What time will she be getting back?" Hermione asked in a whisper dripping with lust and want.

"Not for a long time. For now we're all alone together." Oliver reassured her in to her ear in a low seductive voice.

They both got up form where they were sat and wrapped their arms around each other, bodies firmly pressing against each other so Hermione could feel the bulge in the front of his trousers.

He tilted her head up towards him and kissed her lips before trailing a line of kisses along her neck to her ear, he ran his tongue along it before nibbling it lightly. Hermione sighed with pleasure as she took his hands and slowly lead him into the bedroom.

* * *

**A/N – **Thank you! You guys are wonderful! –

Angryteabag  
Chris  
GrissomCainefan  
RandomSmirf13  
Fuzzypuff  
FlairVerona


	10. The Way it Was

**Chapter 10 – The Way it was

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**

Finally the ten weeks were up and Oliver returned to the hospital where he could get his cast removed. The contrast if skin colour proved just how much time he had spent outside in the sun, one leg being golden brown and the other milky white.

His Quidditch coach arrived when the nurse was talking to him. He would have to exercise it, she told him, but it was as good as it could be so that meant only one thing. That meant that he could get back on the team! His bone had healed quicker than expected so he didn't need the further few weeks of rest without the cast on, as long as he went easy on it and tried to be careful he could get back into playing his favourite sport right away.

After a short conversation with his coach it was agreed that he could come back and play in the next game, as long as his performance wasn't off in practice. Oliver happily returned to Hermione's house and for the first time walked round it without his crutches slowing him down. He went into his room and pulled his travel bag out from under the bed. Going over to the wardrobe he pulled out his clothes and started to place them into the bag, and then collecting all of the smaller items in a small backpack. It took all in all about twenty minutes to do and when the bags were zipped and placed by the door he went to sit on the bed and surveyed the now empty room. With a flick of his wand the décor changed from the dark blue walls he had decided on with many Quidditch posters and banners back to the way it had been before he had changed it. It was now no longer his room; it was just a plain, uncharacteristic guest room in a large house.

Now all that was left to do was to say goodbye to Hermione and Ginny. He sent an owl to Ginny as she was at work, then went upstairs to the floor he knew Hermione's study was on. He walked softly along the landing until he heard a noise in one of the rooms to his right. Turning to it he knocked on the door with four short raps upon the wood.

He heard the soft voice calling "Come in" and pushed the door open. Looking around the office it was just as he imagined it to be. Lots of wooden bookcases lining three of the four walls, a large desk against the fourth with papers stacked on top of it. Hermione was sat in the chair leaning on her elbows on the desk and reading what was on the screen of her computer. She turned to face Oliver and smiled.

"Hey you're cast-less!" she proclaimed with a laugh.

"Yeh, all better now!" Oliver smiled back "But actually that's why I've come up to talk to you. I spoke to coach this morning and he said that I could start back with training immediately. So I'm going to go and you can have your guest room back."

"You're leaving?" She asked, looking upset.

"Yeah, I want to get a lot of training in before the game we have next Saturday. I don't want to be playing badly."

"Oh. Ok then, well do you need a hand with your bags?"

"No I've got them you stay up here and get on with your work, I finished the second book and I want to know what happens next." He chuckled as he walked over to her. Giving her a kiss on the cheek her turned and walked out the door. "Thanks for putting up with me!" he called over his shoulder as he walked down the stairs.

--

Over the month since Seamus had started visiting the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, Ginny had slowly formed a friendship with him. He came in every couple of days to pick up something new to buy for his nephew to help him get through Hogwarts. Ginny had made it very clear that she was still trying to get over Harry and that she wasn't ready for a new relationship and he seemed fine with that.

He usually hung around and chatted for a while after making his purchases. Ginny found the company soothing; the pressure was off as he wasn't chatting her up but the attention made her feel confident again. So finally, as they spent more time together she built up the courage to ask him to dinner that Friday night. He gladly accepted, saying it would be much better than the meals for one he usually had.

Ginny realised, as she closed up the shop for the evening that she had gone the whole day without thinking about Harry.

"Until now." She muttered as she left Fred and George a note saying she would be late on Friday morning as she had errands to run.

She would have to pick up some real food instead of the convenience junk that she Hermione and Oliver lived off. She was just leaving as she received the note from Oliver informing her that he was moving out. She hurried home, worrying about how she would find Hermione. Ginny had watched how she and Oliver had got along and could tell that there were real feelings there, they were just too stubborn to be the one to admit that first.

Apperating into the hall outside Hermione's office she quietly slipped into the room.

"How are you Herms?" She asked softly, preparing herself for tears and a night of eating ice cream.

"I'd be fine if I could get these last few pages to fit in with the tone of the chapter." She muttered as she clacked away on the keyboard. "How was work?"

"Erm, good, I asked Seamus if he'd like to join us for dinner Friday night. That's ok isn't it?" Ginny asked looking at Hermione in confusion; she seemed so calm and like nothing at all had happened.

"That's fine, have we got anything to feed him?" Hermione asked, finally looking toward Ginny and giving her a smile. "You interrupted at a great time I'm just about to throw this across this laptop room. A break really does sound good right now."

"I'm going to get some things in on Friday morning so I'll ask Fred and George if I can finish early and I'll cook it when I get home." Ginny said, answering Hermione's question as they made their way down to the kitchen.

"There's no need I'll cook it, I usually took Friday afternoons off to watch movies with Oliver so it won't bother me." Hermione said as she flicked her wand to the kettle and it started boiling.

"So how you feeling about that? It must have been weird Oliver just up and leaving." Ginny asked with a sympathetic tone of voice.

"A little abrupt I guess, but it'll be nice to have things back to normal."

Ginny looked closely at Hermione's face and couldn't detect that she was lying, but she reminded herself, that didn't mean that she wasn't.

--

Friday came along and Hermione got up to eat breakfast with Ginny before they both started the day's work. Hermione went to her study to try to sort out the mess she had made of the third book the day before and Ginny went into the town to start shopping. She picked up the food that she and Hermione had decided on the night before. She then went back and dropped off the food before going to start work.

At half past three Hermione finished up with the chapter that she was going through. She went downstairs and looked over the bags of food that Ginny had left on the kitchen table. Everything was there so she started to pull it all out and started to prepare the meal.

Later that afternoon Ginny returned from work and peeked in to pick at the food that Hermione was chopping up and getting ready to cook.

"What time's he coming?" Hermione asked her as she poured them both a glass of wine.

"About six I think." Ginny said gladly taking the glass from her and taking a sip.

"So you seem bright and cheerful today. That's quite unusual for you these days, how are you holding up?" Hermione asked joining her at the table.

"I'm better, really I am. I'm still not completely over him, but I don't think I ever completely will. He's my first love; you don't ever get over that really. But I've accepted that nothing will ever come of it so I can move on a little."

"And this thing with Seamus? Are you two going to start dating?" Hermione asked her with a faintly hopeful smile.

"I really don't know. Not at the moment at the least, for now I'm just happy that I've got a new friend for now."

--

Seamus arrived and the three of them sat down to eat. The conversation never dwindled as past stories were recounted and stories of what had happened after Hogwarts were exchanged. It was past ten by the time dessert was served.

Through out the meal Hermione noticed the glances that Seamus was sending Ginny every few seconds. She seemed to either be completely oblivious of the fact that she was being so closely watched or she was just very good at ignoring things.

As they retired to the sitting room, a place with two very comfy sofas in a deep blue to contrast against the pale yellow of the room with an armchair to match and a pine coffee table set between, Hermione said that she was feeling very tired after a long day of cooking. She excused herself, telling them she was going to bed, and instead went to her study to continue writing.

Ginny could tell her friend was lying and was secretly thankful that she would be able to have some time alone with Seamus. She realised, with excitement, that she was starting to feel for this man that was sat beside her.

To her this meant three things, the chance that she was getting over Harry, the fact that her life may possible be able to continue and the last, unfortunate thought but she couldn't help but think it, another possible chance of heartbreak.

She hated the fact that she felt that way but after feeling so strongly about one person and getting rejected so badly as she did, she felt it right to be cautious of these feelings.

But with Seamus thoughts that contained Harry lessened and she was able to smile and have a happy conversation for the first time in a long while.

Seamus was captivated with the girl that he was sat looking at, she was a year younger than him but had eyes that held such wisdom and emotion. She had been part of the final battle when they had been in sixth year. She had been in her fifth year, only fifteen years old, at the time. She had gone through a whole range of emotions at the young age of eighteen that most people took a lifetime to experience. Some people would never experience some of the things she had seen, done and gone through.

Her face held a warmth and freshness that he hadn't seen in a girl before; she seemed so different from the people he had been with previously. He longed for her to open up to him, to be fully herself. He wanted to know all about her, wanted to take the time to learn all about this girl. She put up barriers that he longed to brake down, but he knew it would take time for her to trust him or any other man before that would be able to happen.

--

Two hours later Ginny walked Seamus to the door to say goodbye. It was an odd moment as they stood in the hall both had a hand resting against the door gazing at each other.

"Well thank you so much for the lovely dinner, I had a great time." Seamus said softly.

"So did I." Ginny smiled.

"I suppose I shall see you next time I need to send more tricks into the school, they can never have enough you know." He grinned.

Slowly he bent down a brushed Ginny's cheek with a swift kiss before opening the door and walking quickly away. She watched him go with a small smile playing across her lips. For the first time since she had found out about Harry and Melissa she felt that things could go back to normal and she could feel happiness the way she used to.

--

Oliver was sat on his broom, gripping the handle between his gloved hands. He was hovering in front of the three hoops. He watched as his team ran through various plays and defended the goals when the Quaffle came close.

He closed his eyes and smiled as the wind whipped through his hair and the cry of his team mates surrounded his as they called out to one another. All of it felt so right to his, this was where he was meant to be, he said to himself. He thought about all the times as he was growing up where he had imagined himself doing just this, and now finally he was here. For the past five years he had been a part of one of Britain's top Quidditch teams.

Yet when he was sat in the small hotel room he was staying in for the few days before they were set to travel to where their next game was being played, he could help but feel a little lonely. Usually at this time he would be sat watching movies with Hermione, laughing and talking with her.

But things were now back to the way they used to be. Back to normal, he'd just come out of routine, it would take a couple of days to get back into that's all, he thought to himself.

But why, he wondered, was it so much less of a thrill to be back? Where had all the excitement and passion gone? What more could he want? What more had he ever wanted?

* * *

**A/N – **A big thanks go to all my reviewers, you guys keep me going! –

Aimee  
DariensSecrets  
Chris  
GrissomCainefan


	11. Rejection

**Chapter 11 – Rejection

* * *

**

Hermione realised, as she awoke from a dream containing her and Oliver for the fourth night in a row, that perhaps she hadn't been completely honest with herself. Or with Oliver. All the things she had said to him about work being more important than relationships and her not wanting to be committed weren't entirely true.

She was scared, that was all it was, scared of letting down her barriers and letting someone in, because then they'd be able to hurt her. But in this warped type of protection she was only hurting herself.

With a huge sigh she threw herself back against her soft pillows and lay staring up at the ceiling, deep in thought. She had always knows that she had had feelings for Oliver, there had always been an attraction but that's all she thought it had been. Attraction, nothing more. But now she realised that it might be a little more than that, a lot more even.

With all these thoughts whirring around in her mind she didn't know how she managed to fall back to sleep that night. But she did, and when she awoke in the morning she lay in blissful ignorance for a few seconds before she remembered all about her dream and her feelings.

--

It seemed the world was set on making her think about Oliver, everywhere she went there was some mention to him, on she sports channel, and the news he was being interviewed as he team had won again the night before. There was a fact file on him in the magazine that was lain out on the table and it was the topic of conversation Ginny started on when she joined her for breakfast. And all Hermione wanted to do was forget about him for a few hours before she decided what to do about her situation.

She wondered how he'd react if she went and told him that she liked him, told him that she wanted to get involved. Probably, she thought sadly, just how she had reacted when he had told her.

But this was different this was just because she had nothing better to do, because she still had her work and her friends to involve herself in. this was true real feelings that she had.

She shook her head as though to shake these thoughts out of it and started to concentrate on what Ginny was saying to her instead. But no matter how hard she focused on her friend she just couldn't get her mind to stick.

"I'm sorry Ginny." She interrupted, "But I have to go and tell Oliver how much I like him."

Hermione quickly walked from the room leaving Ginny in a stunned silence. She quickly dressed and apperated to outside the training ground of the Montrose Magpies.

"Can I help you miss?" the guard asked her.

"Yes I would like to see Oliver Wood please; I'm Hermione Granger, a friend of his."

The guard walked away to find Oliver to see if Hermione was telling the truth or was just some crazed fan eager to see the famous Quidditch player. But a few moments later the guard returned with Oliver in toe and Hermione gave a small nervous gasp.

"Hermione what are you doing here?" He asked her looking slightly confused.

"Oliver I need to talk to you. I need to tell you something, something important. Can we go somewhere a little more private do you think?"

Oliver nodded and took her hand, leading her into the changing rooms. She quickly sat down on one of the benches and he sat opposite.

"What's this about? I'm supposed to be in practise."

"I know that this sounds stupid and that you'll probably be mad at me but I like you Oliver, I really, really like you a lot. When you said this to me I was scared to make a commitment. I didn't want to get hurt like the way I've seen my friends get hurt be relationships. So when you admitted your feelings I ran, but I'm here to say I fell the same and was wondering if you'd be willing to give it a shot. I know I said I had an issue about you travelling but all I do for work is write. I can write anywhere so I could come with you." Hermione said hurriedly, once she started speaking she didn't want to have to stop until she had it all out so she left no gaps where she could be interrupted.

After finishing her little speech there was a long drawn out silence where Oliver sat looking at the ground between his feet.

"Well?" Hermione prompted. "Please Oliver say _something_."

"I don't know exactly _what _to say." He whispered. "Hermione when I said that to you, you ran left me alone feeling stupid, I bared my true feelings; or what I thought were, and you shot them down. I said I loved you and you just passed it off as boredom and you know what? You were right. I don't love you, I may have feelings for you but it's not love. I said my bit and gave us the chance to be together but you made it _very _clear that you were in no way interested in me like that. For the next two weeks you ignored and avoided me at all costs. How do you think that made me feel? I'm sorry Hermione but I don't want to be with you, you hurt me really bad and I don' think I can just let that go right now."

Hermione slowly got up from where she was sat, brushed the hot tears from her cheeks and ran from the locker room. She ran as far away from the place as she could before collapsing to the ground in a fit of sobs.

--

When she finally apperated home three hours later Ginny was pacing the kitchen in a state of worry. With one look at Hermione's puffy eyes and drooped shoulders she could guess what had happened. Wordlessly she crossed the room and hugged her devastated friend.

"No just said no." Hermione choked out. "I told him how I felt and he said I had hurt him too badly for us to be together."

"Well then he's an idiot." Ginny soothed.

"He said he didn't love me, he just said it like he didn't care about me at all. Why? Why would he do that to me?"

"He just wanted to hurt you. He didn't mean it, not really." She reassured Hermione who was sobbing quietly into her shoulder.

"But he didn't deny that he liked me." Hermione whispered hopefully. "So maybe there's a chance that he could forgive me."

"Of course there is." Ginny agreed, but didn't really believe.

It was shocking to see Hermione like this, efficient, hard working, always sure of herself Hermione. Whenever Ginny was going through a break up it would be Hermione to help her out. It had always been that way. Whenever Hermione broke up with someone she didn't care about them deeply enough to be very upset by it. There was maybe a day of quiet moping before she would get on with her life. Ginny had never experienced the sobs, tears and pain coming for Hermione before. She wasn't really sure what to do. She thought back to what had happened last time she had broken up with a guy and the roles were reversed.

Quickly she went over to the cupboard and pulled out three bars of Honeydukes chocolate. She then boiled the kettle and made them both a mug of hot chocolate.

"We don't need men." Ginny said firmly as she unwrapped the first bar and gave a chunk to Hermione. "Not when we have chocolate."

This earned her a small laugh from her friend.

--

The next hour was spent analysing what had been said in the short conversation that Hermione and Oliver had shared. It was decided that Oliver felt the same way about Hermione as she did about him, but because she had rejected him he felt hurt so it would take him a while to get over it.

Until then all Hermione could do was wait and hope that he didn't decided to hate her forever. This didn't give her much to be happy about but it was better than the bleak thoughts she had had before talking to her friend.

Hermione was truly thankful that Ginny was there for her, she wouldn't have been able to deal with what had gone on half as well as she did if she had been on her own. This was the first time she had ever really been hurt by a male and it was a shock to her that she could feel so strongly about it.

--

The next day was a Saturday, which meant that she was expected at the Burrow that evening for dinner. Hermione really didn't feel up to going as Mrs Weasley, as usual, would ask about her love life. She didn't want to have to explain about what had happened between her and Oliver just yet.

So instead she sent an owl saying that she was very behind on her work and wouldn't be able to make it, as she had to do a lot to catch up. Mrs Weasley wasn't to know that with the amount of work Hermione had been doing she could afford to take a few months off and still be on schedule for the third book to be out in the next year.

She was glad that her publicist hadn't owled her in the past few days as she didn't think she could bear to do any interviews in the near future.

--

Unfortunately this didn't last for long as just two days later she got an owl saying that she had an interview lined up three days from then.

At first she completely rejected the idea that she would be able to do it. She didn't want to have to talk to people about her personal life but Ginny came in just as she was about reply to the letter.

"What's this?" She asked as she picked up the letter. "Another interview! Great you haven't had one in a while!"

"Actually I wasn't going to do it." Hermione said with a sigh.

"What! Why not?" Ginny demanded.

"I don't know, I guess I just don't feel much like talking about my life right now."

"Then just talk about your book, if they ask about Oliver just say you don't want to discuss your personal life, you did that before." Ginny suggested. "Go on it will do you good, and there's always a rise in sales once you've done a interview, that means that you'll get even more obscene amounts of money to spend."

"Yeah I guess you're right." Hermione sighed. She grabbed a new piece of parchment and wrote a different letter, this time accepting the interview.

She asked her publicist to remind the interviewer that her personal life was personal and she would like to keep it that way so would they be able to refrain from asking questions of a personal matter. Her publicist wrote back to reassure her that the questions would be checked before hand.

--

Oliver sat in the bar surrounded by his teammates. He had just shared with them what had happened with Hermione. All of it, starting from when they had met in Hogwarts. There was a mixed reaction between the group, almost completely half and half. Some said that he had done the right thing completely, that why should he take her just because she wanted it now too even though she had rejected him so meanly just weeks before.

Yet others in his team said that he was being unfairly harsh, just because his pride had taken a little bruising he was taking it out on her. It was so obvious, they said, that the two of them cared for each other. Why didn't he just get over it and make up?

Oliver himself was torn, he wanted to make up with Hermione he really did but he didn't want to be the one to make the first move again. He had last time and it hadn't even been his fault, all he had done was tell Hermione how he felt. So if there were going to be and reconciliation this time it would be she to make the first move.

There had been an odd sense of victory when he had been able to turn her down, to make her feel as bad as he had done. But guilt went with it. He didn't want to hurt her really; he just wanted everything to go back to normal. Back to the way it was before he had bumped into Hermione all those months ago. If he had been looking where he was going he wouldn't have fallen over one of her many bags, then he wouldn't have been reminded of how much he had cared for her when they had been together. He would have got on with his life and continued to play Quidditch happily.

But if he hadn't bumped into her then he may have never fallen for someone. Because that's what had happened, he had fallen for her. Again. Just like he had back at Hogwarts.

So now there was the problem of keeping his pride in tact or getting the girl that was causing him such great confusion. He downed his glass of fire whiskey and left, the fact that everyone was voicing their ridiculous ideas didn't really seem to be helping. He, instead, took a walk he needed to clear his head and work out what he really wanted.

* * *

**A/N – **as always thank you to –

Fuzzypuff  
GrissomCainefan  
Angryteabag  
Chris  
GalPower  
kole17


	12. Confessions

**Chapter 12 – Confessions

* * *

**

Hermione was in a state of worry on the morning of the interview. But she was like that before every interview that she did. Visions of embarrassing herself on TV in front of millions of people. She didn't bother to get dressed in anything that looked presentable, as it would be pointless, when she got to the studio she would be given something to wear anyway. Instead she pulled on a pair of black jogging bottoms and a grey sweatshirt with a black heart print on it.

She ate a late breakfast alone, as Ginny had already gone to work before Hermione had gotten out of bed. After breakfast an owl arrived carrying the portkey that would take her to the studio where her interview would be held.

Arriving at the studios she was met by two women and a man who took her to a styling room where her hair was washed, conditioned, blow-dried and styled. She was dressed in a smart but sexy outfit and her make up was done in a light way.

After a quick preparation Hermione was taken to the green room to wait until the interviewer introduced her. It was only a fifteen-minute wait but it seemed to drag on forever.

But finally a runner came through into the room and got her to go through into the studio. She walked into the lighted room with an audience sat behind the cameramen. The interviewer, Joel Stanley, had stood up to meet her at the door that she walked through. He then led her to the sofa where she sat and the interview commenced.

"Welcome Hermione Granger, author of the two famous best sellers. How are you dear?" He asked with, what he tried to pass off as, a charming smile.

"I'm good thanks; it's nice to have a day away from the laptop." Hermione answered him with an equally false smile.

"So the question I think that everyone wants to know is that are your books actually just an account of when went on for you at Hogwarts?" Joel started off the interview and Hermione relaxed talking about her book she could handle, that she would be fine with.

"Well it's based on what went on at Hogwarts but it's not an actual account. The characters are not real and the plot had been fictionalised. School was my inspiration and the stories that me, Harry and Ron remember are what fuel it but it's not what happened word for word." Hermione explained.

"So after your first book you got a lot of money and of course that would have happened again once the second book was released, how does it feel to be the youngest millionaire witch in over three hundred years?" was Joel's next question.

"It's strange really. I mean I don't really feel any different than I did when I was just out of Hogwarts and had nothing. Luckily I had almost finished writing the first book when school had finished so it was only a few months before it was published. But I only just moved out of the flat I've been staying in a few months ago. The only thing that's different is I don't go bankrupt when I go on a shopping spree with friends." Hermione answered, earning her a small laugh from the audience.

"The fame must have been nothing to you being best friends with Harry Potter throughout Hogwarts."

"Yeah I guess so, but I don't suppose I'll ever get used to it fully. It's still really weird when I pick up a newspaper or turn on the TV and I'm there. It's like way would anyone care what I have to say. But it's nothing new so I've have time to learn to live with."

"But doesn't the gossip bother you I'm sure you're aware of the rumours going around about you and Oliver Wood, does that get to you?" he asked leaning forward awaiting the answer.

"Yes, it's annoying I guess. I mean it's my life and unless I want people to know about what's happening in it I'd rather it not have to read all about it."

The interview continued and Hermione thought it was going well until the question that she really didn't want to answer cropped up.

"So Hermione," Joel asked, "this thing with you and Oliver, just what is going on?"

Hermione closed her eyes and sighed. She opened her mouth and the automatic response came from her mouth.

"Oliver and I are just old friends from school I bumped into him a few months ago and we've been catching up."

The interviewer gave a small sigh and picked up his cards to read the next question but Hermione stopped him. She was tired of lying to herself, to Oliver and to everyone else.

"No wait, that's not true." She said. "Yes Oliver and I were in a relationship while I was in my seventh year. When I finished school we broke up so we could both get on with our careers. I bumped into him a few months ago and we have been catching up. When he was injured I offered him a place to stay as he rents out his house when he's playing Quidditch."

"So are you two in a relationship now?" Joel asked eager to know more.

"Unfortunately no." Hermione said sadly. "I messed it up quite spectacularly. A few weeks ago he asked me to start a relationship with him and, stupidly, I was ignoring my feelings so I turned him down. It took him leaving for me to realise how much I care for him but unfortunately he didn't want to know. It's just really, _really _bad timing on both of our parts."

"So that's it for you two?" the interviewer asked her sadly.

"Yeah I guess so, there's not that much that I can do really, except maybe hope that he is watching this and that perhaps someday he'll forgive me."

"But how do you feel about him?" Joel pressed.

"You know what? I think I might love him." Hermione said quietly and a collective 'awww' went around the audience.

--

Hermione returned home that evening to find Ginny waiting for in the hallway. There was a shocked and admiring expression on her face.

"What?" Hermione asked with slight panic.

"_What was that_?" Ginny squeaked.

"What was what?" was her next question.

"What you did on TV today, it's just like one of those Muggle shows that you watch in the evenings."

"Was it too much? Once I started talking I couldn't stop, what did I say? I can't remember it all." Hermione babbled.

"Well then you're very lucky I recorded it aren't you?" Ginny smiled as she walked in to the living room and turned on the TV.

Hermione watched in horror as her face appeared on the screen and the interview started.

"Oh god! Did I really say all of that? I sound pathetic!" Hermione wailed as Ginny click the TV off.

"'Fraid so buddy." She laughed as Hermione collapsed down onto the sofa in depression.

"Everyone's going to think I'm an idiot." She moaned out from where her face was buried in the cushions.

"No they're not." Ginny reassured her, "They'll think it's sweet."

"And what about Oliver? What if he saw it?" Hermione asked sitting bolt upright looking panicky.

"Well so what if he did? Isn't that what you wanted? This way he'll know how you feel, that you're sorry."

"NO! He can't watch it! No, yes he should watch. Oh I don't know!" Hermione moaned.

--

Oliver, as it happens, didn't actually get to watch the interview at the time as he was in practise but luckily, three of his team mates were watching it and each recorded it so he wouldn't miss the woman he had spent the night discussing in great detail confessing that she loved him.

One of them, a guy called Liam one of the two beaters on the team, caught up with Oliver that evening and asked him back to the flat that a few of the members of the team shared. As he walked through the door he realised that the whole team was there.

"What's going on guys?" He asked, "I didn't know we had a meeting tonight."

"We don't Oliver; we need to talk to you. There's something we think you should see." Emily, one of the chasers, said to him.

--

Half an hour later the TV was turned off again and the room was thrown into silence.

"Oh wow." He breathed.

"So what are you going to do man?" one of the guys asked him.

"I don't know, I really do not know." Oliver replied honestly.

Oliver grabbed the tape and walked from the room wordlessly. He needed a little time to think this one through. It wasn't everyday that someone admitted that they loved him on national television. There was nothing to tell him how he was supposed to react to that. It would take some serious thought.

--

Hermione's interview was the talk of the town for the next few days; she couldn't turn on any of the wizard channels or newspapers or any of the wizard towns with her's or Oliver's name being mentioned.

The worst of it was when Hermione was sat out at the café in Diagon Alley that she went to regularly and an old witch came up to her and patted her shoulder.

"Don't you worry love." She sympathised, "You'll get over him with time."

All Hermione could do was give a weak smile as the witch walked away, happy in the knowledge that she had shared her wisdom with her heartbroken girl.

Oliver was having an equally hard time, witches were giving him disapproving stares, and it seemed everyone had some advice to give him.

"Go to her, duck, love won't wait forever."

"She seems unstable, mate, I'd get out while you're not being stalked."

"I hope that you don't leave her hanging for too long, don't want to break the poor girls heart now do you?"

"Life's short play Quidditch while you still can. She'll still be waiting for you in a few years when you get bored of it."

Oliver seemed to spend his days in an utter state of confusion. On the one hand he did have feelings for Hermione and would love for it to work out but on the other she had hurt him by rejecting him and then made him out to be the bad guy on TV was it so simple to move on from that one. In two weeks she had changed all her feelings for him, from not wanting to be with him to loving him. If she could change her mind that easily once then what's to say she wouldn't do it again. How long until she got bored of him constantly travelling around for half of the year and wanted to settle down in one place?

--

Finally he decided that just thinking about it wasn't good enough he needed to talk it through. Talk to the only person who could aid him in this decision. He needed to see Hermione.

--

It was seven thirty, the sun was setting casting shadows over the gardens. The flowers were closing up for the night and the air was getting a cold edge to it. Hermione was sat on the swing that hung from the oak tree near the rose garden. The scent just reached her and was soothing as she rocked back and forward on her heels.

She closed her eyes and took in the silence. The peaceful, calm serenity of it. She wished that she could stay out here forever. But like all good things they drew to a close. There was movement from behind her and she sprung up to see who the intruder was.

"Hermione?" Oliver called softly. "I think it's about time we talked."

"Yeah." Hermione whispered. "I guess we should."

* * *

**A/N – **Next week I'm in Germany so this will be my last update until next weekend as this week looks pretty hectic and i need to get my packing done over the weekend, the week after I have half term so I'll have a whole week in which to finish this fic, as it's nearing its end soon. So let me know what you think and all that

Thank you, you wonderful people –

GrissomCainefan  
Aimee  
Fuzzypuff  
Angryteabag  
GalPower  
Romy Griepp

**A/N 2 - **out of a matter of interest are there - a) any male readers reading this or b) any one that knows of a good story written by a guy, because my time on I have only ever come across female writers and it would be cool to be the other half of the populations ideas and so on. If you could let me know in a reveiw or e-mail I would love you forever. (in a platonic way of course)


	13. The End

**Chapter 13 – The End

* * *

**

"So you, erm, love me?" Oliver asked bluntly.

"I guess I do." Hermione muttered, blushing.

"I want to forgive you Hermione I really do. But you rejected me _and _made me look like the bad guy. For the past week I've had woman glaring at me disapprovingly it's been hell." Oliver chuckled.

"You think it's been easy for me?" Hermione asked with a smile. "I've had so many people telling me to _hang in there _if I ever hear it again I think I'll die."

"Poor you, human sympathy is so hard to cope with." Oliver teased.

"Oliver I'm sorry. I made such a mess of this; all I wanted was us to be together. When you asked me I was scared, I thought that I'd just end up getting hurt. I never meant to hurt you. Then when you left I realised just how much I missed you. Then on TV I didn't know what I was saying, it all just poured out and I couldn't stop myself. Much like I am doing now, when I'm nervous I babble. I'm really, really sorry."

As she stopped talking she realised that she had started to cry quickly she wiped away the tears using the back of her hands. Oliver wordlessly took her in his arms and kissed the top of her head. A sudden feeling in the pit of his stomach gave him the answer he had been looking for.

"Shhh, it's ok Mione, I love you too." He whispered into her curls.

She drew back on looked at him with her tear stained face. Her eyes locked with his and she gave a weak smile "Y-you do?"

"Yes I do. Of course I do!" Oliver smiled.

Slowly he bent down and kissed her, a soft sweet kiss fuelled with passion and love. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as he pulled her closer to him with his hands on her hips.

Slowly she ran her hands down his back and rested her head against his chest.

"I love you so much." He said to her again with a laugh.

"Not as much as I love you." Hermione replied. "Come on lets go inside I'd like at least one night with you before this is all over the front of the magazines."

Oliver grinned and said nothing as he followed her inside.

--

While this was happening Ginny was having a great dinner at Seamus' house. He had wanted to pay her back for the great dinner he had had when he had gone over to her's and Hermione's house.

Having finished eating they moved to the sofas to have a glass of butter beer.

"So how's your week been?" Ginny inquired and realised that she did actually want to know.

"It's been good, got quite a lot of work done." He smiled.

"And your nephew? Did he like the nose-bleed nougats that you sent him?"

Seamus paused and a look of slight panic crossed his face. "Actually there's something I wanted to tell you about that. I have a slight confession to make."

He walked over to the closet, Ginny following, and pulled open the door. Gasping as she gazed inside and the contents within. "What is all this?" She asked as she looked at all the boxes.

"It's everything that I bought from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes." Seamus said honestly.

"But what about your nephew?" Ginny asked in confusion.

"I'm an only child." He said with a shrug. "I made him up so I had a reason to come in and talk to you."

"Why?" Ginny asked feeling very confused.

"I saw you weeks before and recognised you but every time I came in to talk to you I lost my bottle and couldn't. I thought this way there would little pressure and I'd still get to know you."

"What are you going to do with all this stuff?" Ginny asked, starting to laugh, shoulders shaking and face breaking into a grin.

"I don't know. I guess I'll send it as an anonymous package to the Gryffindor Tower. They could use this stuff against the Slytherins."

"You're crazy." Ginny whispered walking towards him.

"You're beautiful." He whispered back, taking her hands in his.

Slowly they leant forward and shared a kiss. A kiss that they had both been longing for, for so many weeks.

--

The next morning Ginny and Seamus were walking down Diagon Alley arms around each other's waists. Ginny smiled contently and leant her head against his shoulder. As they continued down the street they bumped into a couple that Ginny wasn't sure that she wanted to see.

It was Harry and Melissa. They were hand in hand walking out of the furniture store with many shrunken items in bags. They spotted Ginny and Seamus and walked over.

"Seamus! Hi, how've you been? Hey Gin." Harry greeted them with a smile.

"Harry mate! I'm doing well how about you?" Seamus smiled while shaking his old school friend's hand.

"I'm good. This is Melissa, my girlfriend we've just moved in together." Harry introduced his girlfriend who smiled and shook Seamus' hand.

"Melissa," Ginny interrupted, "I didn't say this last time I met you so I'll say it now. I'm really glad that you and Harry are together you make such a great couple."

Melissa blushed and Harry shot her a thankful smile. As Ginny walked away she realised that what she said had been truthful. She gave herself a small smile and lent over to kiss Seamus.

--

That evening they were all expected at The Burrow for dinner and were happy to go along. Hermione and Oliver and Ginny and Seamus stood on the doorstep waiting for Molly to open the door. When she did she nearly had a heart attack. Both her girls with men! Both of them bringing them along to dinner! This was the day she had been waiting for, for so many years.

"Come in come in!" Molly chirruped with a huge smile.

"Your mum looks like she's going to feint." Hermione laughed as she whispered to Ginny.

Ginny laughed and nodded as she grabbed Seamus' hand and led him inside. "Well she's just going to have to get used to it, because now we come with significant others." She replied.

* * *

**THE END

* * *

**

**A/N – **don't worry it may say 'THE END' in its big bold letters in such a final way but it's actually a clever rouse so that when I post a epilogue you will all be happily surprised. So review and fuel my inspiration for it because the more reviews I get the happier I'll be which means the happier the ending will be! So really the fates of these dear characters are in your hands!

**A/N 2 – **so I packed my case got everything I needed to take with me to Germany and it's still only 7:30 that's still six and a half hours until the coach leaves from school. So I decided that I would write the next chapter for you. Now this time I really mean it when I say I won't be updating for a week as I really am out of the country.

Thanks for your reviews -

Angryteabag,  
Fuzzypuff  
Piper47  
RandomSmirf13  
GrissomCainefan


	14. Epilogue

**Epilogue

* * *

**

Hermione was stood before a full length mirror and smoothed down the skirt of her dress. She could hear the voices of all the people out in the garden waiting for the ceremony to commence. Today was her big day, the day she and Oliver had been planning for, for the past six months.

Now it was upon her, her wedding day! She was so excited. They were holding the ceremony in the garden of her house. The house that was now her and Oliver's. Ginny had moved in with Seamus a few months before, once he had gotten rid of all the WWW products there was enough space for the two of them.

"Hermione? It's time." Ginny told her as she poked her head around the door. Hermione grabbed the bouquet of pink and yellow lilies that stood out against the pure white of her dress. She walked over to Ginny and pulled her into a hug.

"Thank you so much for helping me." Hermione said emotionally.

"Hey! No tears we spent ages on your make up this morning." Ginny joked. "Now come on before Oliver starts to think that you've run off."

--

**Twelve Years Later**

Hermione sat in her office, happily typing away at her brand new laptop Oliver had purchased for her thirty-first birthday. The seven books in her first series were on the shelf beside her. She was now starting something new. Something fresh. She had spent the last year writing notes and creating plots for a brand new book.

She had taken a couple of years off just after the wedding when she had been pregnant. And when she had first had her child.

She was interrupted from her work by the heavy footsteps on the stairs thudding towards the room she was in and sure enough seconds later the door burst open. And her husband ran excitedly into the room.

"He joined the Quidditch team!" He exclaimed excitedly pointing to the letter he had in his hand. "He got in he's a chaser! Our little boy is going to follow in his daddy's footsteps."

"Oh no!" Hermione protested, "He's not going to be like you! I want him to have a chance to have a life."

"So he's not going to be a writer then." Oliver teased.

"What else does he say?" Hermione asked pointing to the letter.

"That he wants Fred and George to send him more free stuff because they're planning a war against the Slytherins and they need as much supplies as they could possibly get their hands on. He wants us to send his best broom over for when practise starts up." Oliver read from the letter. "Blah, blah, blah I'll be home for the Easter holidays but not half term, blah, your only son, James."

"Nothing about school work?" Hermione asked with a sigh.

"Of course not!" Oliver looked at her with horror. "Now how's this book coming along?"

"Not too bad really." Hermione said with a small smile.

"How about a month in Paris to fuel the imagination? We've still got a long while until James finishes the term." Oliver suggested with a sly grin.

"Ever since you stopped playing Quidditch you've been nothing but a bad influence to me." Hermione said walking over to her husband and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I know," Oliver whispered against her mouth "I'm awful aren't I?"

"Ok pack some clothes and we'll go tomorrow." Hermione said with a smile. "How about if we ask if Ginny and Seamus come along? I'm sure Molly won't mind looking after Emily for a few days and they could do with a break."

* * *

**A/N – **So here's the end of this fiction, thank you for your support and encouragement. This was actually written in one week, mainly at times between midnight and three am, during my Easter holidays. I started it when I couldn't sleep one night and most of it is written in a state of sleep deprivation. I hope you enjoyed reading it.

* * *

My wonderful reviwers -

Princess of The Shadow Land,  
Atomic Elf,  
Angryteabag,  
RandomSmirf13,  
Fuzzypuff,  
FlairVerona

* * *

Many thanks,  
Grace. 


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